


Two Sides of the Same Coin

by Flameoflight



Category: NCIS
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/F, F/M, M/M, MCRT, Original Character(s), Platonic Soulmates, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmate-Identifying Timers, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-03
Updated: 2016-06-04
Packaged: 2018-05-31 00:23:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 31,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6448012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flameoflight/pseuds/Flameoflight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The MCRT is called in when an admiral is killed in his own home. Who they find surprises Gibbs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Death Waits

**Author's Note:**

> Death stalks the Hart Family. I'm also just trying to feel out this story. If you want to see more, please feel free to continue reading. I'll be adding to it soon.

The house was quiet. It always was when people slept. The front door turned, slowly, and a dark figure slipped inside. His face was covered. He was a man, built tall, broad, and big. How he moved quietly, it wasn’t clear. He moved through the quiet house, finding the stairs, and moving slowly up them. He slipped down the hall and stopped at one of the doors, pausing. Probably to listen. The dark form moved slowly past the door after only a moment, and found another, trying the handle. It opened quietly and he slipped in. 

 

The form on the bed was another man. The room was rather feminine, with soft colors on the sheets, duvet, and pillows, as well as the rather beautiful vanity to one wall. The only thing that seemed masculine was the dresser, which had all manner of military clothing peeking out of it. The bedside table was also more masculine, obviously coming from an era when the man in the bed was young. The man raised his arm and a silenced pistol could be seen. 

 

In the room down the hall, a woman woke up after a nightmare. She jerked awake, and froze, something telling her that something in the house was wrong. She slipped out of bed, thinking about grabbing the pistol, but no. She was probably over reacting. She brushed her dark hair out of her face as her feet touched the chilled floor. Her steps were quiet as she moved forward, but not to quiet. When she got into the dark hall, she frowned. She could see the door down the hall was opened. It shouldn’t have been. She walked towards it quietly, and looked inside. 

 

“Dad?”

 

Her question was at the back of the tall man who stood over the bed. He jerked and looked over at her. All she could see was the glitter of his eyes in the left over light from the street. What happened next would be burned into her eyes for the rest of her life. With a practiced motion, as the sleeping man reacted to his daughter’s voice, the mysterious stranger pulled the trigger three times. All in the heart. In the room the sound was muffled. The Silencer would make it so only she could hear it. The woman screamed in anguish as she rushed forward, but the big man moved away towards the window and kicked it out, before jumping through it. The woman rushed to her father’s side, but she could tell it was too late. The pain on her father’s face was there for only a second as he searched for her, before, as she tried to press her hands against the wound, her hands going black in the darkness, his eyes closed and his breathing stopped. 

 

“Dad! Dad no! Please no!”

 

The anguish would only last for a moment, as tears threatened to prick at her eyes. She tried to wipe them away with the back of her wrist, but she only managed to get blood on her. She reached for the phone beside the bed, as blood seeped onto the bed, and soon onto the floor at her feet. She dialed a number that she’d always had memorized, but had never had to use. The phone rang too long.  

 

“This is NCIS Emergency Helpline, what can I help you with today?”

 

The voice was calm, a young woman’s, if the dark haired woman was right. She blinked away the tears before she tried speaking. 

 

“My… My father’s been shot. I… I d-don’t think he’s breathing. He’s been shot in t-the h-heart.”

 

The panic she could sence through the phone was unnerving for the woman. Not what she needed, but she had to focus.

 

“Ma’am are you sure? Where are you? Can you see your father now?”

 

If laughter would have helped, she would have laughed. Of course she knew what death looked like. CPR wouldn’t help a heart that had three neat little holes in it. 

 

“I’m at 3257 19th Street North West Dupont Circle. Rear Admiral Hart’s the one who’s been s-s-shot.”

 

Even the woman on the other side of the phone could tell that the woman at Dupont Circle was close to panicking. She was amazed that the other woman was holding together this long. Must be military. The name of Hart caught the young woman’s attention though. An admiral. That wasn’t good. 

 

“Ma’am, I am dispatching the police and a team right now. Do you want me to stay on the phone with you?”

 

“N-no. I-i-i need to clean up the front room. Dad w-wouldn’t want it to be dirty if people are coming over.”

 

“Ma’am, I need you to stay on the phone with me, I need you to describe to me your father’s wound.”

 

It was no use, the phone seemed to go dead, but the young woman could hear someone moving around, if quietly. 

 

“Ma’am? Ma’am!?”

  
In the room the woman stared at the form of her father, laying there, dead, blood seeping around her feet. She didn’t even noticed her hands, as she brushed her hair out of her face, a practiced move. It left blood on her face, and in her hair. She couldn’t pull her gaze from the dead man on the bed. 


	2. Lost in Gray Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meeting the deceased. Gibbs realizes he might be alone in a very important realization. Preliminary case work is done. Mild Swearing.

The day was early when the silver haired man walked into work, his checkered button down paired with a gray jacket and of course, his typical work boots and jeans. His phone went off just as he got to the security check. As he showed his badge and walked through he answered the phone. The young woman on the other end sounded a bit panicked. She explained that his team was the only one experienced enough to deal with a murder of a Rear Admiral. He frowned as he saw both the Assistant Director and Director of NCIS. Seeing both of his bosses made his frown deepen. 

 

“Thanks Richter.”

 

He flipped the phone closed as he walked up to the short redhead and the tall man. 

 

“Jenny, Vance. The case?”

 

He motioned to his phone, which he put back on it’s clip. 

 

“The case, Jethro, has to do with Admiral Hart. His daughter was the one who found him. We need you to be careful.”

 

Jenny’s voice was, as always, short and to the point. Gibbs gave her a long look. It would have been longer if Vance hadn’t spoken up. 

 

“I advise you to keep your team from talking to the media. And they will come. I’m sending a media expert after you.”

 

Gibbs nodded. He moved past them. His blue eyes flicking to the elevator. 

 

“Jethro, this one stinks.”

 

“I know Director.”

 

With that he walked into the elevator. 

 

\---

 

Up in the bullpen, Tony was standing next to McGee as they stared at Ziva, as she crawled under her desk, searching for something. It was obvious they’d just arrived, as they both had their coats on. 

 

“So, un. Ziva. What exactly are you doing?”

 

Tony’s voice was playful as he moved forward, dropping his bag next to his desk. She jerked up hitting her head on her desk. 

 

“Tony!”

 

Her cry was angry, and exasperated. She backed out from under her desk, as she looked at the man smiling at her. The chuckle that she tied to McGee, only got him a glare. 

 

“I was searching for my necklace. I dropped it.”

 

The woman snapped before standing. McGee went white and walked past towards his desk. 

 

“Really. Just a necklace? Can’t you get another one?”

 

Tony sauntered towards her. He was still smiling. He glanced at McGee. 

 

“Oh come on McGee, she’s not that scary. It’s just a necklace, David. Can’t be that much of a loss.”

 

“My mother gave it to me.”

 

“Oh. Um.”

 

Ziva glared at him, trying to decide if she was going to hit him or not. Then he crouched down next to her desk, pulling out a flashlight. 

 

“What are you doing?”

 

She accused him. He gave her a rather scathing look. 

 

“What does it look like, David?”

 

“Like your cleaning the floor, DiNozzo.”

 

Gibbs’ voice snapped as he walked past the man on the floor. Ziva laughed, as Tony snapped to his feet. He could see his boss was moving fast and quickly to his desk. The man smacked the back of his head as he walked by, and the taller man smiled a little. 

 

“Hi Boss. What’s the hurry?”

 

Gibbs glanced at him as he reached into his desk for his gun, before tossing the keys at DiNozzo. 

 

“Gas up the truck. We’ve got a dead Admiral.”

 

\---

 

With Gibbs driving they arrived at the scene quickly. There was a group of police, and even an ambulance. The team piled out of the car. Gibbs looked at the house. Two stories. Obviously at least a million dollars. Beautiful landscaping, white, with the picket fence. Beyond the open door, it looked safe, homey, if a bit expensive. Not what he’d expected from an Admiral. Another thing caught his eye. A woman, standing just outside the door, staring in it as if what was inside was soul wrenching. That must be the Admiral’s daughter. All he could really see was her dark hair and pale skin. One of the police walked up to them. 

 

“You NCIS? We’ve been here a while, the body’s on the second story, second door on the left. Beyond the girl, no one’s touched the body since… well…”

 

The man paused, wondering what exactly was going on. Gibbs glanced at his team. Right, orders time. 

 

“David, talk to the girl. DiNozzo, sketch, pictures. McGee evidence.”

 

“Yes Boss.”

 

“On it Boss.”

 

“Of course Gibbs.”

 

Those three comments were all said together, so they kinda blended as Gibbs stopped to speak with the head detective at the scene, wondering what exactly he was getting himself into. A few moment’s later, Ducky arrived. He and Palmer checked in and then went up to the body. Gibbs walked inside, noticing that Ziva and the woman were nowhere to be seen, but he could hear something in the area he assumed was the kitchen. Vaguely he wondered if he should check in, but not right now. He walked up the stairs and down the hall, glancing to the right to see an open door. Inside was very obviously a person who traveled a lot’s sanctuary. Pictures were everywhere, and yet it had a feminine twist with a vase of beautiful winter flowers. 

 

Gibbs walked into the other open door, and paused. That was rather brutal. There was blood on the floor, and blood on the blankets, where someone tried to wipe some of it off themselves. There was also more on the bed post, where two smaller footprints, about size 7, also in blood. There was also a pair of bloody sweat pants, much to big for the feet, next to the set of bloody prints. Must be the woman down stairs. She’d looked rattled. With this much blood, and if she’d seen him die, no wonder she’d looked like she’d seen Death. She had. He wondered if anyone had gotten blood off of her. Probably not. She’d probably cleaned up at some point, being that she’d been dressed in warmer clothing, though a blanket had been wrapped around her. 

 

“Ah Jethro. Good of you to join us. It seems this gentleman died quickly, if the blood wasn’t enough indication.”

 

Gibbs looked over the body. Professional job. At least one shot to the heart. He hoped they’d find a bullet. Dr. Mallard’s voice was actually a bit calming, as he spoke about a time in Indonesia where he remembered something similar, but it had to do with spikes, not gunshots. He nodded, as Ducky continued. 

 

“In my initial analysis, I’d say he was shot three times through the heart and close range. He died no less than six hours ago, I’d say maybe four.”

 

Gibbs again nodded, glad he hadn’t had to ask. Normally he would have, but he recognized the man in the bed. He’d been a good intelligence officer at one point. He’d been working in the Pentagon for years now. For the last ten years or so. A lot of NCIS’s intelligence came through him. 

 

“Uh… Boss? I think i’ve found a bit of blood here on the window.”

 

McGee’s tone was a bit worried, even as he reached into his bag to grab a swab. Gibbs moved carefully past the blood, and around the bed. The window had been shattered. Down below he could see the wood and glass. 

 

“McGee. Collect that glass. Get it to Abby.”

 

The bark surprised the younger man, and he nodded. 

 

“On it boss.”

 

With that the slightly bulky man walked out of the room. 

 

“Duck. This was a professional hit.”

 

Gibbs spoke softly, eyeing the body again, his blue eyes searching for some sort of hint at anything else. 

 

“I wouldn’t be so sure. If it was, he’d have killed the girl too.”

 

A quiet sound behind them had both men turning towards the door. The woman from the front door stood in the doorway, her dark hair loose, and crowded around her face. Her gray eyes were haunted as she looked past them at the body, not for the first time today. Gibbs stepped to the side, between her and her father’s face. Her clothes were hidden by the blanket wrapped around her, which was a generic gray blanket, probably given to her by the ambulance crew. 

 

Suddenly her gaze flicked up to his face, and Gibbs froze. He’d always known he’d meet his second soul mate someday, but he didn’t expect her to be looking disheveled, and terrified. There was many ways one met their soulmates. Some, like DiNozzo and David, it was a mark of where they first will touch, which was usually not noticeable unless you were looking. For others it was a countdown on the wrist, like McGee and Abby. Of course there was the, words that appeared on the body of what your soulmate will say when they meet you, as it was with Vance and his wife. The final choice was what Gibbs had. Born with the view of the first time you would see your soulmate. That one was not always easy to figure out, but by the time of being sixteen, one knew what one was seeing. Of course not everyone had a soulmate. That wasn’t Gibbs issue at the moment. 

 

He’d been born with two faces. One was Shannon. She’d swept in and stole his heart. Their daughter, Kelly, had done the same. He had never shared that he’d had another soulmate with anyone, beyond Shannon herself, who had been receptive, and Ducky, who had thought it odd, but it made sense. Gibbs hadn’t expected to see the young (at least to him) woman’s face at a crime scene. Not that he’d been looking. She had, mentally, and momentarily, knocked him off his feet. He was rather lost in her gray eyes, which at the moment, had flecks of yellow, and he could easily imagine would change color depending on her mood. Right now he searched her eyes for any recognition.

 

That was not happening. As Gibbs came out of his (very) short stupor, the woman didn’t really react. For a second the older man was confused, until he realized the shock of her situation would very likely, be numbing her to everything around her. 

 

“Ms. Hart! Please! We don’t need you to identify the body.”

 

Ziva’s half panic made the dark haired woman turn. Her gaze turning on the brunnette. Ziva reached a hand out to touch the woman’s arm, hoping to pull her back. Seeing a dead loved one was not something Ziva wanted for anyone. She’d done it. It wasn’t pleasant. 

 

“I’m sorry Officer David. I… I just…”

 

She seemed to fade as if remembering the pain. Gibbs glanced at Ziva who saw his face for half a second, blinked, and then pulled the woman away. 

 

“It’s alright. Come on. You said you had someone you could stay with?”

 

It was that comment that brought the woman out of her fog. She nodded, trying to stand up streight a bit, as they walked back down the hall, towards the woman’s bedroom. The open door. Gibbs followed to the open window. 

 

“I do. My friend’s family can… house me for a few days until my brother get’s home. I-I should c-call him.”

 

Her tone was an attempt to calm down, but even Gibbs knew that would be hard for a while. He forced himself to turn around. Right now Ms. Hart was not his concern. Ziva would deal with it, he had to find whoever killed the admiral. 

 

“Jethro, is everything alright?”

 

“It’s nothing Duck. Do you need anything else?”

 

Gibbs was shorter than intended, but he wanted to get out of the building, and think. Think about what had just happened. And how he was going to convince the woman that they were… soulmates. Maybe after her shock went away, they’d be better off. 

 

“No. No. We’ll take him back to autopsy.”

 

“Good.”

 

With that Gibbs walked out. He’d realized he hadn’t seen Tony, and frowned, searching for his senior agent. He found him outside, with McGee, staring up at the window. 

 

“DiNozzo, Report!”

 

He snapped, again, harsher than intended. He was overreacting, but at the moment, he didn’t care. 

 

“The fall wasn’t an easy one. There’s nothing to cushion a fall, there’s nothing to make it easier to get down, and I think he has a sprained ankle because of the fall. He fell here, and moved off that way, but the steps are not normal.”

 

Gibbs just stared at the man. 

 

“And I’m taking a cast, and following the trail Boss. McGoo is collecting glass shards.”

 

Gibbs nodded. 

 

“Good. I’ll head back with Ducky.”

 

With that he turned around and headed for the autopsy van. This was becoming a very interesting day.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still feeling this all out. Also, yes Jenny is alive, it's an AU. I've demoted her to Assistant Director.


	3. Baby Blues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Juliet figures it out. The team is split up to protect her.

The sun was high in the sky when Gibbs returned to the Navy Yard. He didn’t expect to walk out of the elevator to find his team crowded around Ziva’s desk, staring at something. As he got closer his gut seemed to do butterflys. The woman from before was sitting at Ziva’s desk. On Ziva’s screen was photos. A lot of them. Many were of the war. Most were a bit sad. Many were of soldiers, but all were beautiful. He could see the high end camera next to her, which was hooked up to the computer. 

Gibbs’ team was ooing the images. She stopped on one in particular. It was a soldier, in his uniform, green shirt, camo pants and combat boots. He was sitting on a wall, a huge grin on his face, behind him was a sunset that would probably be remembered by a few, but for a long time. 

“And who’s that Juliet?”

Ziva’s voice was interested, and got half a look from Tony. 

“That would be Major John McMahn. We’ve been friends since we were kids. He’s married, has his own. When I go out he and his unit is the one I go with. Most of these pictures have him in it somewhere. Even if it is behind the camera.”

Her voice was calmer now. And happier. She sounded quite pleased with the praise that everyone had for her work. And it was obvious it was her work. Gibbs wasn’t sure how he knew, but obviously these were her pictures. Well besides the camera. He quietly moved behind them, watching as her pictures changed, an airport, with a group of soldiers, a picture of Juliet grabbing for the camera as someone pulled her camera away, her face lit up with laughter. Another image of the entire unit in front of a C-130, minus her. Another image of the unit, but inside, and strapped in. Then pictures of the unit getting out of the straps, and more images of the same, ending in one of a tall man, standing in full dress uniform, holding a sign, written in purple. It said “Welcome Home Juliet Hart”, and the little tag on his uniform also read Hart. The man was grinning, holding out an arm. That was the last image. She paused as she stared at the image, the room going cold for her. 

“Good image. How’d you get the blur to be so soft except for him?”

Tony was quick to ask, trying to distract her. She pulled her eyes away, to look at the senior agent. He smiled, a little too brightly. Gibbs couldn’t see her face, but if Tony was trying to cheer her up, he probably didn’t want to. 

“I…. I-i… uh… I j-just t-took the picture. I-I wasn’t thinking about blur. It’s a good one isn’t it?”

Gibbs decided now would be a good idea to enter. So he walked back around the partitions and walked at them. 

“DiNozzo! David! McGee! What are our leads?”

All three stood up streight. The black haired woman shrank back. Gibbs managed to not respond by saying he was sorry. That was not something he needed right now. 

“David, what is Ms. Hart doing here?”

“Her friend isn’t in to-”

“John and his wife are currently on their vacation, which I’d forgotten he was supposed to go on. They won’t be back until tomorrow night. Ziva decided to bring me here. I have my own place to stay in. It’s just outside the city.”

Gibbs turned to look at the woman he’d been avoiding actually looking at, and thinking about all morning. She stared back at him, obviously better. Of course he saw her eyes go a bit distant. 

Juliet Hart found herself staring at the man before her, having stood up after he spoke to Ziva, but not her, even though she was there. While she was still reeling from the shock of losing her father, she wasn’t completely without her wits. When he turned around, she was drawn into his blue eyes. Vaguely she remembered that shock had a tendency to make it difficult for one to notice anything. Like meeting your soulmate. She’d met Gibbs once, earlier in the day, but she’d been much more focused on her father’s dead body behind him. Now she felt that pull. The one that her dad had described. All she really knew was looking at him made her feel safe. And calmer. Everything would be alright. The world fell away a bit for a moment. 

“I’d be willing to go with her boss.”

Gibbs and Juliet turned her gaze on the man speaking. McGee blinked, but before Gibbs could respond Juliet seemed to shake that odd look she’d gotten on her face and nodded. 

“I don’t think I’m a target. The guy had a chance to kill me. I was unarmed, and vulnerable. He shot….”

She paused for a second, trying to fight the sudden fear and anguish before continuing, not noticing Gibbs taking a step forward. 

“And ran, kicking the widow out, and jumping. He could have turned and shot me, but didn’t. I wasn’t the target, he was.”

She was dealing with the soulmate thing rather well. Gibbs watched her as she eyed him back. 

“Doesn’t matter. McGee go with her. Keep her safe. Killer might come back.”

McGee would have responded, but the woman seemed to be having a glaring contest with Gibbs. He was confused. What was going on? Gibbs was smiling just a little, but the small woman seemed more annoyed by it than anything. Finally she looked away. 

She looked at McGee, and he straightened. What ever had just happened, he had no reason to get in their way. She sighed. 

“It seems we are stuck together Tim. You said you had a gaming rig? Wanna try something even better than yours?”

She moved back to Ziva’s desk and picked up her backpack, purse and camera. She quickly disconnected it, and the pictures disappeared. She put the camera back into it’s bag. 

“I’d love that! I- I am sure I won’t have time for that though.”

McGee wondered if this was going to become a thing, as the glare he’d gotten from Gibbs had been rather brutal. Right, keeping the woman safe. Green eyes turned towards the black haired woman as she settled her bags around her. She seemed ready, but he wasn’t. Walking quickly to his desk he grabbed his bags. She was holding out keys when he had finished grabbing his gear. He frowned. 

“I can’t drive right now. Ziva drove my car here, you can drive me to my place.”

McGee walked up and grabbed the keys, wondering what he was getting himself into. 

“So Boss, are you gonna send the little probie alone?”

“No, DiNozzo. Ziva you go with.”

“Yes Gibbs.”

With that Tony realized he was going to be stuck looking at leads. And alone. This was gonna be fun. He walked back to his desk and McGee and Ziva made their way with their new charge, who was quietly listening to them talk about the computer that she had been talking about. Tony turned his gaze to Gibbs. Who was watching the back of the black haired woman’s head, an odd look on his face. 

“Boss?”

Gibbs’ gaze turned back towards him, and for a second Tony would have sworn he saw sadness, and longing. 

“No DiNozzo, we’ll be joining them once we find something.”

The slightly shorter man moved towards his desk, reaching for his phone. He heard the ding of the elevator and looked up, hope in his eyes for just a second, but the doors closed, and it seemed his soulmate was moving away from him.


	4. Acknowledgement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A storm, a fire, and a crying woman. How could Gibbs resist? Oh and some video games.

Storms had a tendency to soften everything, the snow causing issues with those who would be driving in the dark. That didn’t stop the heavy dark blue sedan. The street lights faded away as the two men inside sat in silence, the silver haired one didn’t drive as fast as normal. His driving was smooth though, careful as if he was lost in his own thoughts. Even in pain Juliet Hart had been willing to match him in stubbornness. But it seemed that she’d finally decided to let it go. Why, Jethro didn’t know. He’d talked to Ducky. The older man had been very amused, and had even advised that Jethro go speak with the young lady and find out what she thought. 

Gibbs thought that she probably would have said something earlier in the day. But he could be wrong. The GPS pipped up quickly and they turned off onto a dirt road. Tony grabbed the arms of his seat and held on, but again, they just didn’t seem to go as fast as normal. WIth a slight confused frowned Tony’s voice was quick to question what was going on. 

“Uh… Boss? Isn’t there normally a fire we are heading to?”

A quick glip stare had the man shutting up, staring out the window, and wondering what the hell they were approaching. Something was off, Tony knew it. He could tell that his boss was focused on something that wasn’t the case. Of course they’d only found that Ms. Hart had enemies, so did the Admiral, and her brother, Major Hart. The first was a war journalist, for the most part, who refused to print what she was told to print, and wrote rather abrasive articles about the bad guys, domestic and foreign, and still managed to have time to write for National Geographic. The second was an Admiral who worked at the pentagon on some rather secretive stuff, of which they were still waiting for the information. The last was a SEAL, currently in the middle of a highly classified mission that not even NCIS Directors were allowed to know, and he would be notified of his father’s death once he returned to which ever secretive base he called home the last 13 months. All three had many enemies, though it seemed that Juliet had been right and that the target had been her father. 

Gibbs didn’t seem to think so though, and going with his gut, they’d been looking at everyone in her past, and she’d had a lot. Friends were few, but loyal, and all had alibis. Lots of people she’d dealt with in her life, talking to, interviewing, and taking pictures off. Most of them had alibis. The boyfriends, of which there were four, and one stalker, that Gibbs, and Tony were interested in. Two of the boyfriends were military. One Air Force Officer named Lieutenant David Rickter, he was currently and had been overseas for the last week. No returning trips, and their relationship had been rather gentle. They were apparently still friends, as their correspondence about Rickter’s daughter was quite friendly. The other was a marine named Petty Officer Garth Hamil, who also had a tight alibi, he’d been dead for 6 months. Other wise he’d have been a good suspect. She’d had a restraining order against him. 

The other two were a journalist, William Yarin, who they couldn't get in contact with, he was apparently in Germany on assignment, and the last was her most recent boyfriend, Richard Pollock, a painter. The painter was currently painting, and had been all night. 

The final choice was the stalker. James Aldin, a former Lieutenant in the Navy. No one could find him, but that didn’t mean he’d done it. He’d stalked her six years ago, and had since left her alone. There wasn’t even a restraining order. He had disappeared six years ago. So at the moment they were waiting on information, so they were on their way to the address that McGee had sent them. 

In the darkness, the house still lit up the night. A single story, wood cabin. Beautiful. Tony couldn’t see it as well as he’d like, but they’d be there in the morning, maybe he’d get to see it in the daylight. Either way, as they pulled up the long drive way, it was stunning in the snowstorm, lights streaming out. The car turned off, and the two agents got out of the car, and grabbed their bags, heading up the steps onto the covered wrap around porch. The wind and snow slowed. They were about to knock when Ziva opened the door. They both walked inside. A voice stopped them both in their tracks as Juliet, in a blue set of pajamas with a set of blue and black headphones came around the corner. 

“Shoes off! I don’t want snow tracked onto these floors! They are hell to clean.” Gibbs stared at the odd look of the woman before him. Barefoot and obviously annoyed, she was rather beautiful, though he had no doubt Tony didn’t notice, too focused on his own soulmate who was currently eyeing him, then his shoes. Gibbs smiled, nodded and sat down on one of the wooden benches to pull off his boots. HIs bags fell on the floor beside him as Tony struggled to get his own off. Gibbs stood up, holding his hands down at his sides, but palm towards her, slight smile.

“Better?”

She squinted at him, then at Tony, who was currently hopping on one foot to get his other shoe off. She pursed her mouth and sighed, shaking her head a bit. 

“It’ll have to do. I have two extra bedrooms. four in total. If you and Tim don’t want to go home in the storm, you can feel free to stick around.”

The woman spoke to Ziva, and then turned around back towards what was probably her office. She and McGee were playing some sort of game, and with in seconds they were loudly talking at one another. 

“How’s she doin’?”

Gibbs watched Tony get his shoes off and go to see what McGee was doing, before kissing Ziva on the cheek. Ziva moved closer to him, watching as the area that could be called the office filled with another person. 

“Coping. Badly, but coping. She convinced McGee to play games with her on her computers. Some battle game. I stopped asking. It has been quiet. I would rather not drive in snow.”

Gibbs eyed her, but nodded. Asking to stick around. Obviously Ziva had come to like Ms. Hart. Juliet. He was allowed to think of her as Juliet, right? Blue eyes turned back towards the black haired woman, with ears encased in headphones. 

“Tim on your right! Oh come on Abby! I know you saw that one!”

Her voice was annoyed, but there was some laughter in it. Gibbs moved quietly to stand behind her chair, resting his hands on the back of the light brown suede desk chair. Beside her McGee was seated at a similar station with a black leather chair. The woman leaned back a bit as the brightly colored screens lit up again. Gibbs watched as the weird game commenced, and the pair in front of him went to work. He could hear Abby through their headsets. Somehow they won, whatever had gone on on the screen. Her fist hit the air, and both of McGee’s did as well. 

“Haha! We did it! Abby we did it! Juliet you were amazing! We’ve been trying to beat that team for months!”

McGee’s face was lit up, and on his screen Abby was also excited. Gibbs watched as they calmed down. She suddenly realized he was standing behind her chair and jumped a little. 

“Agent Gibbs. You scared me.”

“Didn’t mean to.”

His short answer was partially a question, but as she pulled off her headphones, she looked at Tim. He nodded. Ziva and Tony were in the kitchen, making some sort of warm beverage. 

“Right. Coffee? Tea? I take hot chocolate, but Dad likes Tea, Darren likes Coffee.”

Gibbs was surprised she passed as close as she did to him, brushing her hand against his as she moved into the kitchen. It was a fairly open floor plan, though one wing of the house was dedicated to bedrooms and bathrooms. He was sure the master bedroom had a master bath. 

“Coffee.”

She glanced at him as she continued walking. She smiled at his word. 

“Right, Black I assume?”

Gibbs just nodded and followed her, still unsure what she wanted to do. She looked a little chilly, in his opinion, but at the moment he wasn’t about to say anything. She moved into the kitchen seeing both of the agents working to figure out her kettle. 

“I’d try to press the button there. It turns it on.”

She pointed at the button as she moved into the kitchen, reaching for her coffee pot, busying herself quickly, as Gibbs watched from the archway that lead into her office area. He’d have helped but with Ziva and Tony in there it was already a bit crowded. The house was built around maybe four people. Though with five bedrooms they expected visitors. It was also older. All of the appliances and electrical equipment was modern, newly redone in the last two years. The wood had been repolished, but it was still old. And the kitchen table was very old. And obviously generations of kids had carved their names into it. Gibbs looked around the building. This was an heirloom, handed down from family member to family member. He wondered which one had given it to her. He noticed the fire, and the chill, and moved to the fireplace to work on fixing that. 

He was in the middle of setting up the wood when he felt a presence behind him. He didn’t stop as he glanced over his shoulder. Juliet Hart was watching him from a few feet back. He could hear his team behind her, talking about what type of drink they wanted. Alcohol wasn’t on the table, though Tony joked about it. 

“Watching me, Juliet Hart?”

The way he said her name was a bit interesting. The U was a bit long and he emphasized the E. She frowned at him as she moved closer, crouching down beside him. 

“I haven’t used that fireplace in years. I have central heating.”

Gibbs continued working, his hands settling the last things into place. 

“Always prefered fire to… central heating.”

A soft thump beside him got another glance. Hart was cross legged beside him, watching his hands and the fire building. Gibbs found a lighter next to the fireplace, and held it up, glancing at her. She shrugged. 

“I said I haven’t used it. Darren has. Dad has.”

Gibbs nodded and lit the fire, watching as the paper lit up. 

“We gonna talk?”

She sighed, closing her eyes for a second, not responding to his voice at first. She seemed a bit lost in her thoughts. Gibbs waited, hearing the beeping of the coffee pot going off. It stopped as someone got it. 

“I have no idea where to start. And part of me is not exactly happy at the idea of doing this with my father….”

She paused, biting her lip. Gibbs reached out a hand but she stood up, walking to her couch and sat down. He followed, sitting beside her, and waited. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to push her, but at the moment, he wasn’t exactly thinking with his head. He rested a hand on hers, waiting. 

“I… I want… I just... “

She burst into tears, probably for the first time all day, and just leaned into him. He wrapped an arm around her, and let her cry. There wasn’t much else he could do, beyond let it happen. He noticed Tony giving him a long look, and then they moved back into the office space. Leaving him alone with the crying woman, to many emotions conflicting in him, as well as her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have changed some information about Aldin.


	5. Caring to Much?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ziva does her best to remind Gibbs that the killer might not have anything to do with Juliet.

Her tears were spent, and she’d fallen asleep, though Gibbs was sure she had thought she wouldn’t. Of course he couldn’t move. He had a rather amazing view down her shirt, and of the room. It was wood, leather, and soft chairs. The couch they were on was swede, in a dark brown, and plushy, but not to much. He kept an arm around the small woman, as Ziva slipped out into the darkly lit room, though the fire cast it’s light about. 

“She asleep?”

Gibbs nodded, pointing at a blanket on one of the chairs. Ziva grabbed it and quickly unfolded it, putting it around the woman before sitting in one of the chairs. 

“She’s been trying hard all day to forget. She had us out with her horses for about two hours. I didn’t mind, my uncle breed’s arabians, and for the most part that’s what she has, but McGee was a bit leery for a while. She told me, by the way. How are you?”

Ziva’s voice was calm, but curious. And obviously she felt for Juliet. Gibbs glanced down at the sleeping woman. She’d been up since early, and had a less than great day. Ziva glanced at the fire, then at him. 

“Helps people relax.”

Gibbs froze as Juliet shifted, making herself more comfortable next to him. He reached a hand out to brush her hair out of her face. He glanced up at Ziva, who was watching him. 

“I and McGee don’t want to drive back tonight. She’s offered to house us, may we?”

Gibbs was confused as to why Ziva was asking him. It wasn’t like he owned this house. Then again, he was being slept on by the woman who did. He nodded. 

“Don’t see why not. We think it might be her stalker. No one in her father’s life has a motive or opportunity, but we can’t find him.”

Ziva noted the anger in his voice, though he was keeping it quiet. The woman beside him reached a hand out to try to calm him, even in her sleep. Gibbs grabbed her hand, squeezing slightly, watching her. For him this was easy. He’d done this once, he expected the need to be close, and to protect her. She would have no idea what was going on, which worried him a bit. He was lost in staring at her. For her this would be a bit fast, even with all the stories of Soulmates finding one another, and how quick things could happen, but for her, it would just be a whirlwind. Especially with the loss of her father. 

“Might be someone wanting her father dead. Don’t jump the book Gibbs. She’s only a part of the equation. She’s our victim, as is her father. I just don’t want you to get stuck on one thing.”

The silver haired man stared at her. She refused to lower her gaze though. Ziva was not willing to let her boss get caught up in all of the emotions that came with a soulmate bonding. Gibbs frowned, before looking down at the hand in his. Right. He was very likely responding to the bond. Which was technically a mix of hormones and emotions. Something like that. The technical jargon was for Ducky. He didn’t remove his hand, and looked up at her. 

“What are you thinking Gibbs?”

“My Gut says there’s more to this than we see.”

The woman stared at him for a moment. She stood up, looking at the sleeping form beside him. 

“Then I will take the team back tomorrow, and we’ll find out what we don’t see.”

Ziva started to walk back towards Tony and McGee. 

“Her bedroom is the one on the far left.”

With that she moved through the archway to see what McGee and DiNozzo were doing. Gibbs sighed, watching them for a moment. Then he looked down. He shifted so that he could get his head nearer to hers. 

“Hey. Wouldn’t you rather sleep in your bed?”

The soft moan was enough to make him smile. She was vulnerable. Very vulnerable. Her eyes blinked open, then closed again for a second. 

“You need to wake up just for a minute. Then you can go back to sleep.”

His voice was soft, and gentle. She blinked her eyes open more, staring at him. It didn’t take much, but she was coaxed into a seated position. He stood up and pulled her with. She managed to keep the blanket with her, and half lead the way to her bedroom. He flicked on the light to find a rather warm room. All warm oak, and images of horses. Obviously taken by her, there was her family on her dresser, including a beautiful young woman, holding a very young Juliet, who must have been her mother. On the walls were pictures of horses. There were consistently five different horses. One was a tall beast, gray, and obviously a former racer. There was a purebred arabian, black. And the other three were arabian mixes of sorts. Beautiful. She didn’t notice him looking as she moved to her bed, and fell into it. She half closed her eyes as he turned his gaze to her. He started to turn back to the main hallway, but she spoke first. 

“Don’t go.”

Gibbs turned to look at her, blue eyes concerned. He took a step closer to her, wondering what exactly she wanted. She pulled the blanket up around her as she shifted onto her side. 

“Juliet, are you ok?”

“You’re safe.”

“Ah.”

He moved over to the bed and sat down beside her. She reached out and touched his hand. She didn’t want him to leave. It wasn’t like they were going anywhere. Tomorrow there were going to deal with the death of her father, and find his killer, but tonight, tonight he could hold her, and let her sleep. She was already waking up, and somehow he knew she wouldn’t sleep if he wasn’t here to keep her asleep. 

“I’ll be here.”

He spoke softly as he settled on the bed next to her. She turned around and curled up against him, before shifting again to pull the blanket over herself. He settled her in before getting up to turn off the light, and going back. He left the door open, deciding if there was something wrong he’d rather hear it. It was rather soothing to lay there next to her, and listen to the fire, and the soft voices of his team, talking about some game, or something. At some point, he drifted off to sleep, arm around her, head pillowed on his arm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short. Not my favorite, but I have the muse, so I must post. Thanks for the Kudos so far guys! :)


	6. Navy SEAL

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coffee, Horses, A Brother and Explanations. Very long chapter.

Dark hair in a mess over her face was the first thing Gibbs saw, when he opened his eyes. Under that he could see her mouth slightly open, and a very soft snore coming from her. She looked beautiful, and the pain of the day before was gone. He found himself just staring, memorizing her face, and wondering if he was dreaming still. He’d felt this before, on a train, long ago. The hours of talking, and Shannon had fallen asleep against him then too. He hadn’t slept, but he’d felt the same way. He barely knew this woman. Then again, he could say the same about Shannon, besides seeing her everywhere all over town. 

The thing was, he’d been looking at Juliet Hart’s images in National Geographic, and many of the military magazines at the office for years. Seeing the images around the room had reminded him of them. They’d always been interesting pictures, full of life, and conveyed a sense of being there, with the photographer. Of course the name for the picture had been J. Hart. He’d always assumed a James or a John, but now it was Juliet. It suited. He wondered at her name. And wondered how many Romeo’s had tried to make it that ever common play happen. They knew about the four boyfriends that she’d had in her adult life, but what about the flings that had lasted maybe a weekend? And what girl wouldn’t have wanted to at least try that name? Then again, maybe she hadn’t. Constantly having men named Romeo try to seduce her must have gotten old, and fast. 

He brushed some of her hair from her face, wondering about her childhood, and even what she’d been doing in the last few months. Overseas in Iraq was the most he’d figured out. And the pictures she’d taken had been rather stunning. He wondered what images she’d take of him. And where this would lead. He hoped, vaguely that they’d figure it out. He knew it wasn’t the time though. Very likely they’d deal with it after the case. It made him anxious to figure out who’d killed her father, and not her. That was the sticking point. Killing her when she might be able to identify the killer would have been smart. Gibbs was suddenly very glad that hadn’t happened. She shifted next to him as he heard someone moving around in the hallway. She moaned gently, and he kissed her forehead. She settled. It was still dark out, and Gibbs didn’t think she should wake up. He heard soft voices in the area he thought might be the kitchen. 

Gibbs started to sit up, but her eyes blinked open as he did so, and he was caught up in her eyes again. They were green like her blanket. Well gray green. Pretty. 

“Hey.”

He smiled as he spoke, brushing his lips against her cheek. She focused on his face, still sleepy, and trying to focus on his voice. 

“Just gonna shut the door.”

He continued talking and she shook her head, looking past him at one of her windows.   
“What time is i-”

“Early. Sleep, sweetheart.”

She frowned for a second and pulled the blanket further up around her face. He brush his fingers over her hair before getting out of the bed and moving towards the door. He glanced at her before slipping out into the hallway, closing the door behind him, and moving to the kitchen. There he found Tony and Ziva, making coffee. 

“Ziva, she has starbucks. Like…. The beans!”

“Tony, I do love you, but there are moments when I wonder if you are a 34 year old adult american male.”

“He’s not, Ziva.”

Gibbs walked into the kitchen, eyeing the pair of them, Tony holding the bag of beans, and Ziva trying to tug the coffee pitcher away from him. Gibbs eyed them carefully. 

“We’re getting ready to head back to NCIS. We didn’t mean to wake you, Boss.”

“You didn’t, DiNozzo.”

“Oh. Um… We didn’t mean to be loud. Just getting ready to head out. McGee’s warming up the car.”

Gibbs nodded, walking up to him and taking the bag, setting it on the counter. He’d rather they didn’t wake her up. Again. He knew he was probably being overly protective, but at that moment, he really didn’t care. 

“DiNozzo, find the killer. Please.”

Tony gave him a very odd look as he turned and started down the hallway. 

“On it boss.”

There was a quick pause. 

“Did he just say please? Ziva. Ziva what do you know? You know something, I know that smile.”

Gibbs found himself smiling a little as he turned around to see Tony moving towards Ziva and pressing her against the counter. 

“Now, DiNozzo.”

Tony looked up, his face a bit startled, but he took a step back, as Ziva pushed him lightly, walking past him towards one of the bedrooms. Probably to wake up Tim. Gibbs turned back around and started down the hall again. 

He quietly opened the door of the master bedroom and slipped back inside. She was asleep again, and he stayed quiet as he moved across the floor and onto the bed, wrapping an arm around her as he settled back in. She murmured something in her sleep and then was quiet. It took another half an hour for the house to get quiet, and Gibbs listened to the sound of a car pulling away from the house. It was about then that he drifted back off to sleep. 

\---

He was woken up by bright sunlight streaming over him, and an empty bed. For a moment he was confused as to where he was, and what was going on, and he sat up. 

“Mornin’, sleepy head. I see the three musketeers are gone.”

Her smile was a good thing to see in the morning. She still had messy hair, and sleep in her eyes, but it was a pleasant sight. She stretched, moving away from the window that she’d opened the blinds too, walking past the bed towards the bathroom. He sat up, feeling better refreshed than normal. He got lightly to his feet and quietly padded his way to the bathroom, watching her from the doorway as she brushed her teeth. She didn’t notice at first, but when she did she blushed and tried to hide behind her thick hair. He smiled, chuckling softly before finding his way to the kitchen. Ziva had left a note with the coffee grinder. The Assistant Director had called, wanted him to call her, and wanted to talk to Juliet. Well that could wait. He went about making coffee, thinking that his normal breakfast of just coffee was probably not going to fly with the younger woman. He was in the middle of searching her cabinets for mugs when she came out, hair brushed, though still in her pajamas. 

“The one next to the fridge. Yeah that one. I like the one with the stylized cat.”

Gibbs saw the talk mug instantly. It had a very goofy looking cartoon cat encased in yarn. He grabbed the generic Starbucks one next to it for himself, and glanced at her. She moved closer and then leaned passed him to get something out of another cabinet. Sugar. He made a face, which got a laugh. 

“I knew I had you pegged for a Marine. Yes, I like my coffee flavored. And sweet. I had dad send me sugar so I wouldn’t have to deal with the guy’s heckling me about using all of ‘their’ sugar.”

Her face fell after a second, and Gibbs didn’t quite respond. Her pain was real, but he was hoping he might be able to get her inside on the situation, and leaving her be for the moment seemed like the thing to do. She just moved closer to him, for a moment. Then the moment seemed to pass. She was willing to focus on things elsewhere. He guessed from her time in Iraq and crisis situations all around the world, that she had a good handle on herself and how to mitigate her emotions, but truthfully, if he didn’t need information, he wouldn’t have forced her to deal with it. 

The machine beeped and she reached past him to grab the pitcher. He got there first, and pour the coffee. She nodded, thankful. Her hands were shaking, though she looked more or less calm. The next few weeks were going to be levels of hell, he was sure. 

“What do you want for breakfast?”

HIs tone was still gentle. While Tony would say he was heartless, he really wasn’t, and he brushed a hand against her side as she turned to another cabinet. 

“Well there’s only going to be non-perishables. So I’m gonna eat a few handfuls of dried cereal. And then I have to check on the horses.” 

She pulled down a box of cereal with brightly colored marshmallows in it. Gibbs stared at her, but she seemed to be immune to his typical stare. She glanced at him as she found a bowl. 

“There’s healthier cereal in there. If you’d like it.”

The small woman dumped some of her brightly colored cereal, which had to be stale, and put the box back before moving to the kitchen table, which was obviously where everyone ate. She sat down, taking a sip of coffee before slowly starting to munch on her cereal. He sighed and followed her to the table. She jumped when her cellphone went off. She looked around confused, and realized she must have left it next to the computer, and quickly got up to grab the phone. 

“Hello?”

She paused in the doorway as she tapped her phone to answer, and held it to her ear. Gibbs was watching her, as the light in the window lit up her hair from behind, giving her a bit of a halo. She smiled a little. 

“Shepherd. Hi. Yes of course I remember when we met. I was what…. Six years younger? I did a spread on you, if I remember correctly.”

Gibbs stared, realizing that Jenny knew the deceased, and the woman before him. That was going to be fun. 

“Ah, yeah. I’m… functioning. I can’t expect to be better a little over 24 hours later.”

She grew a bit distant, pulling her arm to wrap around her a bit. GIbbs got up, keeping the coffee with him. He moved up beside her, and pulled her into a half hug. She relaxed a little, listening to the call. He heard Jenny’s to the point voice, though not the words. 

“Wait, he’s coming home? I thought he was in the middle of a mission. That’s what I was told yesterday.”

Her voice seemed a bit panicked, if also a lot happier. Jenny’s voice got a little calmer, and Gibbs smiled a little. He kissed the top of Juliet’s head, hoping she’d calm down. 

“By 2. You mean he was told at two this morning? It’s a 12 hour flight…. Where do I meet him?”

Her voice sounded a bit indignant when it came at the comment about the two in the morning thing. He wondered who the ‘he’ was. Gibbs realized it must be her brother. Major Darren Hart. A Navy SEAL. 

“Bolling Air Field? I’ll be there.”

Gibbs was right then, as she concluded her conversation and leaned into him. She was relived about something, but he wasn’t going to push for the answers he wanted. Give her time. She didn’t need much. 

“Apparently as soon as my brother got back, they sent him home. He’s been given a month of leave for family grieving, and I should probably be there to pick him up at 2pm this afternoon.”

She sounded relieved. So big brother was someone she trusted. Didn’t mean Gibbs did, but he’d keep that to himself. 

“Well, there’s a few hours between then and now, what is your plan, Ms. Hart?”

He smiled down at her, as she glanced up at him. She pulled away, heading back to the table. 

“Same as before. Eat, get ready for the day, go check on the horses. It’s a good thing I didn’t tell the kids to not feed them. I don’t know how often I’ll be here for the next few days….”

She frowned again. Anything that reminded her of her father set her off. Gibbs couldn’t say anything against that, of course. He;d had similar issues. Now she was eating, so at least she was trying to function. Gibbs sat with her, in silence, as she finished, and cleaned the bowl. She seemed to take his physical contact well, even to the point of soliciting it herself. Before she went to her bedroom to, he assumed, shower and change, she kissed his cheek, which surprised him. The last person to do that had been Shannon, besides Abby anyways. She went back down the hall and into her bedroom. He moved to his bags that he’d dropped at the doorway and found his way to a different bathroom. He wasn’t about to jump the gun, though it would be nice. A shower, change of clothes, and teeth brushing later, he realized his hair was still a mess. He ran his hands through his hair before moving back out into the house. The shower was still going. So she took long showers. He looked around, wondering what to do. He decided to pack himself back into the car. He’d rather have his truck, as the snow had gotten thicker, but these cars could take it. He pulled on his boots, coat, gloves and hat, before heading outside. The sun was bright, and after he dropped his stuff in the back of the car.

When he turned around he found that the house was rather stunning. He knew that her home was in a wooded area. He could see the barn behind the house, and the tracks of his team leaving, as well as what he assumed was a truck coming and leaving. He hadn’t heard that, so they’d not come inside. He also saw a group of horses in a snowy paddock next to the barn. It was a rather stunning sight. One of the horses was a blood bay arabian, and he was obviously the leader, as he stared right back at Jethro. Another black arabian cross was beside him. There was a palomino painted arabian as well. But it seemed that they were all well cared for. He moved towards the fence, as he caught sight of another horse, further into the paddock. A big buckskin gelding moved through the snow, his back covered in it. The horse cantered towards the fence, before coming to a quick stop. A thoroughbred. He looked like a former race horse. Jethro held out his hand, and the horse dropped his nose into Jethro’s hand. The horse snuffled softly at his hand, before pressing himself against the fence to sniff at Jethro’s hair. The horse must have been at least 18 hh. A big animal. Gibbs ran his hand over the horse’s neck, enjoying the obvious joy the horse was feeling. 

“So I see you found Rebel, and that he got you to scratch him.”

Gibbs turned to see his soulmate in darker clothing, standing there with an amused smile as she eyed both him at the buckskin. Gibbs wondered if she realized she was already signaling she was in mourning or not. The dark colors muted everything about her, and he felt that when she was feeling more herself, she was someone who liked jewel tones and bright colors. Almost like an opposite Abby. Abby. She was going to love Juliet. Especially if Juliet let Abby dress her up, at least once. 

“That’s his name?”

She smiled at his words and walked up to the horse. A sudden whinny and the much smaller blood bay horse was sticking his nose over the fence to get pet. She laughed and ran her hands over both horses. 

“Yeah. Rebel’s Rise is his full name, but when I and Dad rescued him, he answered to Rebel. This is Moniet. His show name is Moniet El Nefous. Moniet just sounds better.”

His name was obviously arab, and the way she spoke it was similar to Ziva. Obviously she’d grown up speaking the language. He knew that she knew at least as many languages as Ziva, and probably at least understood many more. He again wondered who this woman was, but she was busy telling him about her other horses. 

“That’s Darlin’. She’s dangerous if you have carrots. And that is Bonny, short for Bonny Lass. She’s an Irish Sport Horse Arabian cross.” 

She pointed at the black mare at the end. And Darlin’ was the paint. She was proud of the animals and continued talking, making it hard for him to be distracted, though seeing her happy was nice. Relaxing for him as well. 

“I’ve got another, but he’s not allowed out just yet. Most of these guys, except Moniet are rescues, and VanGogh isn’t allowed outside just yet.”

With that she patted both horses and went to the barn to check on the last horse. He was a frisian cross. Another buckskin, who seemed happy to see her, and she ran her hands over his neck, the other buckskin made his way into his stall. All of the horses had shoots that lead out into the paddock, only Gogh’s was closed. Gibbs had followed at a distance, giving the Blood Bay a bit of his attention as the bigh buckskin went inside. When he got into the barn, he found her leaning into the big stallion’s neck. 

“You’re gonna miss Dad. He won’t be coming to ride you any more boy…”

Her voice was soft, and the gelding seemed to know something was wrong, keeping his head over her shoulder, giving her a horse hug, his ears turned towards her, listening to her voice. Gibbs made sure his step was loud as he made his way towards the darker buckskin, VanGogh. 

“He’s a pretty one.”

She jerked up straight, startling the Gelding, who snorted and pulled back into his stall. She turned sniffling to look at the other horse. 

“Yeah. He’ll make a good horse soon. Still skittish under saddle, at least that’s what my trainer said. I haven’t gotten to try him since I got home.”

Gibbs nodded as she reached a hand out to touch the horse. He snorted at her, and pressed his head into her hand. She just stood there a moment, looking lost. Gibbs watched her a moment, before taking her hand off the horse, and touching her face with his glove to pull her gaze up to his. 

“It’ll be alright.”

She bit her lip, fighting back tears again, but nodded, taking a deep breath. 

“Right, we should get back. I’m sure you have work, and I have no reason to stick around here for now.”

Gibbs found himself impressed. She was doing everything she could to hold herself together. Gibbs nodded, and they moved back out into the sunlight. She went back inside and grabbed her bags, dropping them in the car before getting in it after him. He weighed getting there quickly or going carefully. He tested the waters, and when she didn’t react badly, he drove rather quickly. She seemed to enjoy herself. 

\---

When two finally rolled around, she’d spent most of the day with Abby, talking, and learning, and trying to not dwell. She refused to go to Autopsy to ID the body, though she really didn’t need to. Gibbs spent the morning and early afternoon working with his team to find a possible killer. It again swung to the Stalker. Which didn’t bode well. They couldn’t find him. Six years ago he’d dropped off the face of the earth. He’d gotten a dishonorable discharge after he’d been found out for stalking an Admiral’s daughter. He’d supposedly stopped, but Gibbs wasn’t so sure. So they started to go through her pictures, being that her computer had been grabbed along with her father’s. They started to notice a pattern. Her stalker was in most of her images taken when she was home, or at least in a public place. It had taken a bit of finagling, but they’d figured it out. Tony had been the one to wonder if maybe they should check her images. Gibbs had decided to wait and see if they were actually correct before telling Juliet how ever, and when it was time, he collected her from Autopsy, with a Caf-Pow in hand as a peace offering for Abby for taking her newest toy away. Juliet was excited, if a bit reserved as McGee came with them to pick up her brother. 

She had her camera out as they waited for the plane to hit the tarmac. The three of them stood on the edge of the tarmac, as a C-130 winged it’s way to the ground. It came to a full stop and then nothing happened. Between the two men, Juliet grew impatient, taking pictures, obviously trying to not be worried. She’d turned to photography her entire life for solas, and this was no different. 

Then the bay doors were opened, and the soldier’s in the troop carrier started to stream out. They were not the only civilian’s on the sidelines. Her brother had caught a almost full troop transport back, and there were plenty of men and women who were finishing their tours. Juliet kept searching for a particular set of eyes, but she didn’t see them until almost everyone was off. The tall man with a scar through his eyebrow and a little down his cheek, with matching hair and eyes to Juliet had a heavy military jacket, and a duffle over his shoulder. Juliet was moving before either Gibbs or McGee could stop her, and they watched as she threaded her way through the crowd of happy people to stop only a few feet from the tall man that had to be the Major, and snap a picture. The sound of the flash caught his attention, but she’d gotten the serious profile of her brother, before he smiled. He looked tired, and a bit sad, but the sight of his little sister seemed to help, as he dropped the duffle onto the wet tarmac and enveloped her in a huge hug, both of them talking too fast for either Gibbs or McGee to keep up as they came through the crowd. 

Her brother looked up at them as they came close. He pulled away from her, and she frowned, before realizing that Gibbs and McGee were there. Oddly Gibbs was thankful for that. She had other things going for her than just him. Then again, he mostly just had his boats and work, so maybe he wasn’t one to talk. 

“You must be the agent’s working on my father’s murder.”

Gibbs was not surprised at how blunt the man was. He didn’t look all that much older than Juliet, but Juliet’s reaction told him that she’d not expected that kind of responce. The man looked down at his sister, still having an arm around her. 

“What? They are aren’t they? I’m Darren Hart.”

He held out his hand to the two men, both shook his hand quickly. Gibbs watched the man carefully, but as he glanced at Juliet, she caught some of a glare, which he wasn’t sure weather it was for him or her brother. Either way he stayed quiet and stoic. McGee was the one that spoke, as they made their way to the car, Hart refusing to give up his bag until they hit the car. There he found his sister’s bag in the back and glanced at her. He didn’t say anything though, and got in the back with her. They continued chatting, but he could see something was wrong. 

As they arrived at NCIS, he finally asked her what was wrong. 

“I… I have a lot to tell you. But first, did you get in contact with Aaron? They wouldn’t let me talk to him… and he’d want to know.”

Gibbs heard the deflection and glanced at her using the rearview, before they parked. She wasn’t going to talk to her brother in front of everyone. A private convorsation then. 

“You can use our conference room.”

He spoke a bit loudly to get his point across, but she nodded, as her brother started to speak. 

“I did. He’s coming as soon as he is discharged from his duty. He’ll be here for the funeral.”

The man’s voice sounded fond when he spoke of Aaron. Who ever that was. Juliet nodded. McGee was the one who put the pieces together. 

“Wouldn’t they have called your soulmate as soon as they found out? We’re supposed to get in contact with all family members if there is a death.”

McGee sounded distressed. And Gibbs understood why. The tall man got out of the car before responding. 

“He’s undercover, I’m probably the only one who can contact him besides his handler. He’s not even on record as having a soulmate.”

Gibbs understood. Of course that would have happened. Well it made sense. And with that the Hart’s grabbed their bags and made their way inside, escorted by the two NCIS agents. They arrived at the conference room, and Gibbs let them be, curious as to what was going to be said, but not willing to press his luck with Juliet. He went back to his desk, half of his attention on the stairs, not wanting to miss her if she left her brother upset.

\---

The siblings sat down next to one another at the table, and were quiet for a moment. Darren had dealt with much of his emotions on the plane trip. She, he figured, had been doing everything to keep herself in one piece. He grabbed her hand, and squeezed once before letting go. 

“Is he really gone?”

She looked up at him stricken. He couldn’t help the pain he was causing, but he knew it had to happen. She had to talk about it. 

“I…. I tried to make him wake up. H-h-he…” 

She burst into tears again, for what felt like the millionth time. He got up and got her some water. She brushed her nose against her sleeve, something their mother would have hated. He didn’t say anything as she took the water, again, trying to calm herself down. 

“D-dad died quick. Three i-in t-the heart-t-t.”

Juliet made the motion with her hand of a gun firing three times. She was trying not to cry again, but the tears kept coming. 

“I t-t-t-tried-d t-to st-top-p t-the b-b-bleeding.”

He moved to stand beside her and turned her chair around. He crouched in front of her and touched her chin, looking at her. 

“Juliet, everything will be ok. I… I know it doesn’t seem that way, but I promise, it will.”

Juliet stared at her big brother. He seemed so calm, and that upset her. He saw the rage starting and raised a hand and a finger, stalling her enraged cries. 

“Juliet. I’ve lost men in my arms before. I remember when mom died, I was in the damn car when it happened. I know what you are feeling. You will never forget that moment, the smells, the tastes, the sounds, the feel, the sights…. But Dad would be so upset with you if you stayed stuck. It get’s better. I… I can’t believe he’s gone, but at least we don’t have to make the same kind of decision as we did with mom.”

Juliet sniffed, still crying, but trying to master herself as her brother spoke. Darren was right. Having to pull the plug on someone who would never wake up was harder than being unable to do anything, but it still hurt like hell. She waited as her brother stopped pacing and sat down. 

“Y-you’re right. I-I j-just miss h-him.”

Darren nodded, his buzz cut making a rather striking figure against the light coming from the windows behind him. She just wanted to make the pain stop, but it seemed no one could do that. She glanced at the door, as if expecting someone there, and Darren caught on that something else was up. 

“There is something you aren’t telling me.”

Her eyes widened, as she started to try to figure out a way to put it nicely. He glared at her, though it wasn’t as harsh as she thought it was. 

“Jewels, just say it. What’s going on?”

Juliet took a deep breath, before speaking. 

“Imetmysoulmate. He’stheguydownstairs, AgentGibbs. He’sbeenreallynice.”

Darren stared at her, trying to decifer what she’d said. She’d done this before, when she thought she could be in the wrong. But it was a childish behavior, from after Mom’s death, and she hadn’t done it in years. 

“Sis, you’re blurring your words. Slow down. You aren’t in trouble.”

All he really knew was that in about two sentences she’d said the world soulmate and Agent Gibbs. He really hoped he got more explanation than that. 

“I met my soulmate.”

“Good. Who is it?”

“Agent Gibbs.”

“The silver haired guy? He’s the guy you’ve been seeing all these years?”

“Y-yes?”

“Is that a yes or a no? Come on sis, I’m not gonna be mad.”

“Yes… I just remember him being younger.”

The laughter that her brother had was confusing to her, but he quickly stopped, seeing her face. 

“Sorry Jewels, You do know that when you saw his face, it was when you were twelve right? That first time he was younger.”

Juliet nodded. Usually she was smarter than that, but it seemed she just couldn’t focus long enough at the moment to use her brain. She was the one who’d gone to college after all. Her brother had as well, but after her. And on the government’s dime. She’d gotten scholarships, and dad had helped to some extent. 

“I’m glad for you, sis. You deserve someone. How’d you meet?”

She looked down, a bit ashamed. He frowned, wondering, suddenly, how the team downstairs still had the case if their leader was suddenly soulmated to Juliet. 

“He must have known first. We technically met in D-dad’s house. I-I don’t really remember it. I… I remember seeing him down there. In between Ziva and Tony’s desks. He’s s-safe… you know?”

Darren watched her. She was ashamed she hadn’t noticed it when Agent Gibbs had. That wasn’t her fault, and even he knew that shock or any strong emotion like grief could cause one part of the soulmated pair to not notice the bond starting. The Finding, if you may. 

“Isn’t he to close to the case now? Shouldn’t he remove himself?”

Darren hoped their father’s murderer wouldn’t get away because Agent Gibbs was to brutal. The man read as a marine, if long removed. 

“T-tony said that the Director would have removed him, but that there wouldn’t have been a point. Jethro would have just gone after the guy anyways. Make it official, and he’ll follow some rules.”

Darren found himself a bit worried at that comment, but he could see talking about her soulmate calmed her down. Not that he was surprised or anything. When he’d met Aaron the world had stopped for a time, and then restarted. And when it had restarted everything had changed. He pulled her to her feet to give her a hug. 

“Well then, let’s go meet the newest member of the family.”

“His team is sorta his family as well. Abby told me that. She’s the forensic scientist.”

Darren sighed as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and grabbed his bag. She grabbed hers and they walked out of the conference room. Gibbs was staring at the door when they came through, and Darren decided that being a cocky big brother would just be priceless. He smiled, rather brazenly as they came down the stairs, only stopping when a tall black man came towards them. 

“Major. Good to see your safe. Hello Ms. Hart. I just wanted to inform you both that we are doing everything to find your father’s killer. And that you have our support in anything you need.”

Darren sized up the man and nodded. A politician, but he meant well. 

“Well then I am thankful. I’m grateful that you have taken care of my little sister too.”

Juliet blushed a bit as they shook hands, Darren didn’t really say anything else and they quickly parted ways, heading down the stairs. Gibbs refrained from standing, as Tony did. The man came around his desk holding out his hand for Darren. The tall man was swamped with questions and introductions, and Juliet managed to extricate herself from his arm. She stood a bit off to the side, watching her brother, grateful he was home. That he was safe.

She felt a presence behind her and turned her head a bit, seeing Gibbs there. 

“Hey.”

She spoke softly, but he heard her and moved forward, wrapping his arms around her, and kissing the top of her head. 

“See. Everythings alright.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Moniet's name means The Wish of the Soul. His is supposed to be an Arab name.   
> Sorry this one is long, there's a lot I wanted to get done. I felt the story was going to slow, now it's better. I hope you like it. Thanks for the comments and kudos so far!


	7. Protecive Instinct

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A threat is made to those Juliet loves. Darren does some explaining, and Juliet opens up to Gibbs, and Gibbs to Juliet. Ziva ends up with a bloody lip. Oh and we meet Shannon, the boat.

Darren finally had to convince his sister that they should find something to do that gave the team space. They needed to work. Before they could leave the area, Gibbs pulled the younger man aside. 

“I don’t want you two going out alone.”

Darren gave the older, shorter man a long look. The SEAL could protect himself and his sister just fine.

“Why? What did you find, that you don’t want her to know?”

Gibbs was impressed, though he just gave the man a long stare. The younger man just stared back. Though he did look away eventually. 

“Her stalker is our main suspect. I’d rather you two stay in the building.”

The rage that flared in the pale blue eyes was no surprise to Gibbs. Though he could have sworn the kid had the same eyes as Juliet. But then again, her eyes probably could look pale blue. Gibbs raised a hand at the kid. 

“At least stay on the Navy Yard. And I’ll be sending DiNozzo with you.”

Darren’s lips went very thin but he nodded. He hadn’t spoken yet, but Gibbs didn’t think he’d stay quiet much longer. 

“I’m assuming you want to tell her?”

Gibbs nodded, but the kid wasn’t satisfied. 

“Keeping her in the dark won’t help any. I’d let her know soon. She might have an insight that you and your team don’t.”

Gibbs was going to again, nod, but the kid spun around and moved back around the stairs to find his sister. Juliet could tell something was wrong, and she looked up at her brother before looking behind him at Gibbs. Gibbs refrained from speaking as her brother made the decision for them to stick around. 

“We should stick around here. You should show me your pictures, and the articles you’ve written.”

His voice was a bit clipped, but she nodded, grabbing her camera. McGee was quick to get up and take them back up stairs to get them set up. When he left the two of them set about going through her pictures from the last 13 months that he hadn’t gotten to see. Darren enjoyed himself as she showed him videos and images, and had him read her articles, most of which were going to be published soon, or were published. 

\---

Hours later, and the sun was starting to lower itself, when Gibbs stood up, annoyed, and his team responded with heads looking up, confused and worried. 

“Boss?”

Gibbs looked at Tony, who had stood up as well, hoping to keep his father figure from doing something stupid, if needed. Ziva was quick to follow, but McGee was a bit focused on the computer screen in front of him. 

“We’ve got nothing!”

Gibbs tone was angry. Ziva glanced at Tony, as she sat back down. Gibbs stared at the screen which held an image of Juliet’s stalker. James Aldin had disappeared six years ago, and they couldn’t find him. He’d been dishonorably discharged, and there was nothing they could find. The man’s family was gone. Died when he was a kid. His last girlfriend had been Juliet. If he’d had a job they couldn’t find it. People didn’t just disappear! Gibbs took a sip of the coffee, angry. Ducky’s report hadn’t been that useful. Juliet had told them, in simpler words, what had happened. Abby had found that the DNA on the scene was James Aldin. She’d found Juliet’s finger prints as well as her father’s all over the room, as well as a glove print, which they couldn’t match. There were agents out scouring the area around the house, searching for anything. So far nothing. 

“We might have something boss. A credit card in a very distant relative of Aldin’s that lives in California was used yesterday to book a hotel room here in DC. I’m waiting on a call from them to see which room.”

Gibbs turned to look at McGee as the man continued to stare at the screen. 

“If I can get through their firewall, I should be able to figure it out faster.”

The entire team waited with baited breath. It was obvious when McGee got through thought, as he grinned. 

“Apparently, a Mrs. Jackie Quill booked a room yesterday, but the official report says a man picked up the key. He’s in room 203 at a Hotel Inn.”

McGee quickly rattled off the address. Gibbs wanted to go, but he’d rather not leave Juliet alone. 

“Ziva, go with him, bring him in.”

Both scrambled to their feet. Gibbs glanced at Tony. Tony nodded. 

“Move the Hart’s?”

Gibbs nodded and they both moved to grab their things to go get the siblings. They were up the stairs quickly, and Gibbs opened the door. They had turned off the lights, closed the blinds and were viewing 13 months worth of images. Both looked over, the dark gray and pale blue eyes a bit surprised at the light streaming in from behind Gibbs and DiNozzo. 

As Tony was about to speak, Vance came through the door behind them. 

“I just got a report. Apparently our killer returned last night and left a message.”

All four of them stared at the big man as he took the remote from Juliet, and changed the channel. An image of a piece of paper with a simple note on it. A threat, more or less. 

Dear Juliet,

Your father’s death was unavoidable. He pulled us apart. We are meant for each other. Neither of us have a soulmate, and you are perfect for me, and me for you. Your father was the first. You and I belong together. Don’t make me kill anyone else. I was promised you, and I will have you.

Yours Always,  
Jimmy

As Gibbs finished reading the letter, he glanced at Juliet. She was staring at the screen, white as a sheet, her hands fisted in her lap, the knuckles white. She was chewing on her bottom lip. Gibbs took a step towards her, but Vance spoke. 

“We are taking it at it’s full potential, and the note itself has been sent to Ms. Scutio.”

Gibbs moved around Vance, and stopped once he got to Juliet’s side. She responded to his touch by leaning towards him. HIs hand was a bit tight around her shoulder. She couldn’t look away. Vance turned off the screen and she turned her gaze to the Director of NCIS. The man stared back at her. 

“I’m putting you in a safe house. Your brother as well. To me it sounds like he wants to kill anyone around you. And we are going to separate you.”

Gibbs shook his head, as did Juliet and Darren. 

“This isn’t a request. I don’t want him to be tempted into doing something stupid.”

Juliet was the first to speak. 

“You can’t force me into a safe house. And I don’t go anywhere without Darren.”

Her tone was one that had both Gibbs and Vance (and to some extent Tony, though he recognized it from his childhood) staring at her. She expected to get her way. Darren normally would have warned her off for it, but he happened to agree. 

“You couldn’t keep a detail on me, if I wanted to get away from them.”

Darren’s voice was much calmer, but he was a SEAL, his tone was also carried that weight. Gibbs glanced down at Juliet, who looked grateful to her brother. 

“It would be safer for the two of you to not be together. You won’t be alone Juliet.”

Gibbs actually crouched down in front of her, holding her hands, rubbing the with his thumbs, trying to get her hands to relax. She actually glared at him, but he kept his gaze on her. He had to be able to talk sense into her. 

“I can’t lose anyone else.”

Her voice was soft, and Darren reached out a hand to touch her shoulder. She turned to look at him. He was in the same boat. For the first time since they’d picked him up, it was obvious how much pain he was in. Losing their mother had hurt him more than her, but now their pain was shared. Their father had been their homing beacon, even after Darren had found his soulmate. Gibbs didn’t let go of her hands, even if he was hurt by the fact that she didn’t seem to trust him to protect her. Then again, he didn’t have a right to be upset. She didn’t know him as well as he’d like, and in this moment, she very likely didn’t want to be to far away from family. 

“You won’t. I promise.”

She closed her eyes, fighting back tears. Gibbs didn’t much care what Vance though, he wrapped his arms around her. She didn’t start crying, to her credit, but he felt her shaking. Darren looked away. He just held her. Her shaking slowed a bit, but she wasn’t ready to give up. 

“Please. I know it would be safer, but it’s not like he’s a SEAL, or I a war photographer. I’d rather have Darren there.”

Her tone was still close to tears, and Gibbs could tell he was losing the battle. Tony stayed quiet, watching the three of them. Then Vance spoke. 

“Fine. It’s against my wishes, but if we can’t convince you two to do the safe thing, you’ll be moved to a safe house, and given a full security detail until the man is brought in, and behind bars.”

Vance moved out of the room, obviously annoyed. Gibbs pulled back a bit to look at Juliet. She shook her head and just stared down at her hands. He had no idea what was going through her head, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to know. He glanced at Tony. Then at the woman at his side. She needed time to cope. 

“I’m gonna go set up the safe house. We’ll be back.”

Gibbs lead the way outside of the room, only to be confronted by Vance. The man looked angry, and he barked an order for Gibbs to follow. Tony watched them go and walked off to get more information, and find a safehouse for their charges. 

Vance slammed the door on his office, and turned on Gibbs. Gibbs stared back, rather stoically. 

“I should pull you and your team from this case. You could have let me know you were soulmates to one of our victims.”

Gibbs waited, knowing he deserved this. The anger coming off Vance could almost be physically felt. The man moved to the other side of his desk, glaring at Gibbs the entire way. 

“I should do many things. None of them will help us get the Admiral’s killer. And if I did remove you, you’d just go after the guy anyways. Just know that all eyes are on you. Find the killer, and find him now, Gibbs.”

Gibbs nodded and moved quickly out the door, grateful that hadn’t gone on longer. He had things to do. When he got to his desk, Tony was already gearing up, talking into his phone, half barking orders. Good, the agent was taking things seriously. 

“Got a place boss. In between here and your place.”

Gibbs nodded, getting his stuff, wishing he had two more agents to move the siblings. He and Tony both were half way up the stairs when the two of them came down them, obviously ready to go. Juliet looked sullen, which seemed a bit out of character, but Gibbs didn’t really know her well enough to make that call. He planned on making time to find out though. Not that he wouldn’t have if they’d met under normal circumstances. She saw him, and tried to smile, but the seriousness of the situation, and his face, made it falter. Darren moved easily, though he was more aggressive. 

\---

The arrival at the safe house was uneventful, if very quiet. She saw there were two bedrooms, and disappeared into one, closing the door. Tony frowned, but Darren raised his hand, stalling the man from going to open the door. 

“She think’s it’s her fault that Dad is dead. Six years ago Dad had words with the man, and he was dishonorably discharged. She feels that if she’d done something sooner, nothing would have happened. Not likely, but she takes stuff like this personally.”

Gibbs frowned as he and Tony put their bags in the living area. Tony had sent Ziva and McGee a text at where they were. Gibbs wondered at the man, and decided that if Juliet wasn’t willing to talk, but Darren was, he was gonna ask Darren. 

“Tell me about him and Juliet.”

It wasn’t a request, and Darren recognized it. He eyed the former gunny, trying to decide if he should trust this man. He probably should. He sat down at the dining table, and sighed. He looked tired, but Gibbs needed to know, and pressing Juliet wasn’t going to help at the moment, Gibbs had figured that out fast. 

“They met seven years ago, she did an article on his CO. She and he flirted, and it lead to something a bit more. It was during a period when we all were home. He fell in love. She didn’t. She didn’t make it well known that she had a soulmate. Not that many people believe her for some reason. Apparently she’s too pretty to not already be mated, or something. It always pissed her off.”

Darren paused as Gibbs sat down across from him. They’d grabbed coffee and the younger man took a sip. He was big. Gibbs could tell that man could do damage if he really wanted to. He was probably an amazing fighter. Gibbs waited, as Tony moved around, making sure everything was secure. 

“Their relationship lasted two months. I have no idea why she broke it off, but he didn’t take it lightly. She dealt with it quietly, or at least thought she did. When I found him skulking around our backyard six month’s later, Dad took it into his own hands.”

The rather grim smile from Darren was enough for Gibbs. Admiral Hart had stepped in rather forcefully then. 

“After I was done with him, Dad put the fear of God into him. And then his CO found out, after Juliet started the process of putting a restraining order against him. The bleeding heart that she is, she removed it once he was discharged. After that he disappeared. We all assumed he’d just gone off to do his own thing. Guess we were wrong.”

The anger in Darren’s voice was apparent, and while he was talking, he didn’t notice Juliet open the door. She watched the back of his head while he spoke, pain coloring her face. At first Gibbs hadn’t even noticed her, but Tony had, and he’d watched her. Gibbs noticed her as her brother finished talking, and looked at her. She took a step forward and her brother turned his head a bit to look over his shoulder. 

“Am I wrong? We thought he was gone. Shouldn’t have.”

Darren’s tone was sad. Because of her mistake, their father was dead, but he didn’t blame her. How could she have known? There was no way. She seemed to take each of his short sentences as a blow, and Gibbs stood up without realizing it. 

“I’m sorry.”

Her voice was small. Gibbs recognized the tone. She hated herself at that moment, and Darren, in his pain, probably didn’t care. Gibbs moved across the room to her side. Darren didn’t watch, his own grief finally catching back up to him. Tony kept moving, keeping to himself. 

Gibbs pulled Juliet into the bedroom she’d just left, and closed the door, guiding her to the bed, and getting her to sit down. He watched her sink into the bed, and sat down next to her. She leaned against him, instantly. In the deep recesses of his brain he felt very pleased. The conscious part was just worried about her. 

“I killed him. I chose badly, and I-I k-killed-d him.”

She was still fighting back tears and Gibbs wrapped his arms around her, half pulling her into his lap. She was shaking again. He just held her as she started to sob. 

“You didn’t know Aldin was a bad guy. None of this was your fault.”

Gibbs murmured into her ear, and she just clung to him. His anger at Aldin only got worse. He wanted to hurt him. She didn’t need to feel guilty. He ran his hand over her hair as she cried. He let her cry it out. How long this went on he had no idea. Gibbs had an idea that this would take any sessions before she was done, but he was willing to give her the time. She needed the time. Her pain only made his own feelings worse, and he had to relax a little. She finally finished crying, and as she pulled away, she rubbed her nose. She was blotchy, and her nose was red, but she seemed less in pain. 

“I… I don’t want to stay here.”

Her voice was very soft. Gibbs nodded. He’d thought that might happen. He pulled her closer and kissed her forehead. 

“I’ll take you to my place.”

She nodded, staring up at him again, getting pulled into his blue eyes. They were mesmerizing. He found himself looking at her lips, wanting to do more than just hold her. A knock on the door had both of them jumping before the door opened. Tony stood before them, looking a bit worried. 

“Boss, Ziva and McGee found Aldin, but he got away. Ziva got a punch in the face, but they are on their way. Apparently they have been dealing with the scene for the last hour. He left behind a lot of information.”

Tony looked at the pair of them, and realized that he’d come in on a rather tense moment. He smiled it off though. Gibbs got up, pulling her to her feet. He didn’t let go of her hand however, and grabbed her backpack. She grabbed her purse and camera bag. 

“Good. When Ziva get’s here, send her to me. My place is safer for her.”

Tony nodded as Gibbs moved away from Juliet, dropping her hand, going for his own stuff out of the other room. Tony looked at her for a moment. 

“Juliet… None of this is your fault.”

She eyed him for a moment, noting his out of character comment. But she nodded, and walked past him out into the living room. Darren was watching Gibbs, who wasn’t speaking, as he collected his bags. 

“I… I think we’d be better off separated.”

Her tone was soft, contrite, and it was obviously another apology. To his credit Darren disagreed, but he couldn’t stop her, and he knew it. His pale eyes stared at her. 

“I’m not blaming you, Jewels. I never could.”

She nodded, and gave him a quick hug. He hugged her back tightly, and let her go only when they heard a car. About thirty seconds later, both Ziva and McGee came through the door. Ziva had a dark mark across her lip, and she’d probably have a black eye later. The slim woman was quickly pulled into a hug by Tony. Juliet came up behind him and looked at Ziva. 

“He did that?”

Ziva saw the tear tracks and nodded. Gibbs walked up beside Juliet. He eyed Ziva’s lip, and filed that away for later. Aldin was going to be lucky to not have a broken bone. 

“David, once your ready, I’m taking Juliet to my place.”

Ziva nodded, glad that Gibbs was giving her permission (and therefore Tony) to relax a bit. And to let the soulmate bond relax a bit. She and Tony had been running nonstop and it wasn’t great for their bond at all. At least Gibbs was aware of it. Gibbs nodded. 

“McGoo call for another car. We don’t want to be without one when Ziva leaves.”

Tony’s voice was calm, but a bit teasing. With that, Gibbs lead the way outside. Juliet followed, tired again. Once they got in the car, she seemed to relax a bit. She even closed her eyes as Gibbs drove. The silver haired man drove carefully, deciding letting her sleep would be nice. She woke up when he turned into his house, parking next to his truck. She eyed the truck for a moment, then got out, looking at his house covered in snow. She saw the single track from his home to where she assumed his company car was. 

Gibbs grabbed her things, leaving her her camera and purse. She followed him inside, noticing that the house did seem… to be frozen in place. Juliet saw what she assumed was an ancient couch, and everything seemed to be frozen in the very early 1990s. Gibbs noticed her looking around, and suddenly felt a bit worried that she wouldn’t like it. She turned towards him, waiting for an idea where her stuff was going. He moved down the main hall and dropped her, and his things, off in his bedroom. She put her purse down as she moved into the living room. The purse was on the couch, and her camera bag followed. Her gray eyes found lots of things that she liked, but felt old, and… frozen in time. 

Gibbs came up behind her, as she stopped to look out the back window. He wrapped his arms around her. She closed her eyes and matched her hands with his, enjoying the touch. 

“I like it here.”

Her voice was soft, and distracted. He smiled a little, into her hair, eyes focused on the trees in his backyard. 

“Tony mentioned a boat?”

Gibbs laughed softly and took her hand to show her the basement. She looked at the boat as they came down the stairs, their feet cluncking as they did so. She reached out a hand to touch the wood, looking around, spotting the hand tools. She let go of his hand to pick up the hand sander. 

“Hand tools?”

Her tone was gentle, and rather amused. He grabbed her hand and showed her how to run her hand up and down the prongs of the boat. She smiled a little, realizing that part of his smell was the wood dust. She liked it, and leaned back a bit into the half embrace he had her in as he showed her how he sanded his boat. 

“What’s her name?”

Gibbs pulled away, looking at the boat. 

“Shannon. My first wife.”

Juliet blinked, and nodded, waiting. He sighed, moving to get himself a bit of a drink. She followed him, and leaned against the desk as he offered her some of the bourbon. She shook her head a bit, tugging off her coat, showing her gray shirt underneath. It was a tastefully low cut v-neck, that matched with her gray jeans, and black boots. Her gloves came off at the same time, and she propped them on the desk. She then moved to boat and pulled herself up to sit between two of the prongs. Gibbs settled in the chair in front of her, pulling her feet onto his lap, untieing her shoes as he did so, mulling over what to say, and how he should say it. 

“My first soulmate. Died while I was in Kuwait. So did my daughter, Kelly.”

Juliet listened as he told her quite a bit of his life story, including the fact that he’d been married a total of four times, that he was still in contact with his daughter’s best friend, and that Tony, Ziva, Abby and McGee were like family, the first real time he’d said that out loud. He’d gotten her shoes off, but not her socks, and they rested on his thigh. She listened, ending up taking some of his alcohol, disliking the taste, but continuing to drink. 

“You probably know most of my story. If my public story isn’t well known, it’s all in my file.”

Gibbs nodded. Somehow that encouraged her to continue. She told him about her mother, the brilliant woman who let no one tell her what to do. She talked about losing her mother, and how that had affected her family. Not well. She talked about her rebellious phase. She explained about each of her boyfriends, though she knew about her soulmate. She’d always believed that she’d find out someday, and it wasn’t important to focus on the future, but on the now. 

Gibbs watched her as she got up and started to pace as she spoke, her white socks turning dark with his dirty floor. She didn’t mind. She finished on her most recent trip to Iraq. He got up at that point, not wanting to hear the last part of the story, the one with her dad. She turned towards him, her back to the boat. She blinked as he got close. He smiled at her, and she relaxed. He just stood there, staring at her for a moment. She blinked, blushed and looked away. He reached out and drew her face up towards him, before his lips touched hers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry we don't see Ziva get her bloody lip. I'm following Gibbs and Juliet.  
> I felt like I needed to explain some religious stuff. While I don't own all of the characters, this is what I see in my head.  
> Darren and Aaron are both Muslim. Darren doesn't worship as purely as Aaron. He uses Allah and God interchangeably.  
> Gibbs, Tony, and Palmer are not religious, though they might visit a holy place on a holiday.  
> Juliet is spiritual, but not religious.  
> Vance, McGee, Ducky, Jenny, and Abby are Christian.


	8. Lips Touch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> EXPLICIT/GRAPHIC SCENES. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. Gibbs and Hart consummate their relationship. Becoming fully mated comes with a few interesting perks (and downsides) which surprise Juliet, and leave Jethro a bit raw.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is another warning. Sex happens. Graphic sex. If you feel uncomfortable, I'll continue the explanation of what I see for soulmates in my AU in the next chapter. Feel free to skip to the next chapter.

The Kiss. It was overpowering, and it was just a gentle brush of lips. Her hand moved to his arm, holding it in place. He smiled through the kiss, his other hand moving behind her head, just at the base, holding it close to him. He again brushed his lips against hers. She returned the kiss, her head moving forward a bit, pressing her lips a little harder against him. She rested a hand against his chest, feeling the cloth of his polo shirt. He pressed her back into the boat, one of his hands dropping to her waist, feeling the soft fabric of her shirt. His thumb moved the shirt aside to touch the skin just above her pants. 

Juliet’s mouth opened a bit, gasping at the warmth of his touch and Jethro was quick to take advantage of this, and his tongue brushed against her teeth. She responded with a similar reaction, though much more hesitant. He had more of an idea of what he was doing, if only because his emotions weren’t conflicted. He wasn’t sure when her hand had ended up in his hair, but he liked it. Juliet’s eyes closed as his hand wandered up her torso, leaving warmth as he did so. She was a bit passive, getting lost in the touch his lips and hands were leaving behind. His other hand joined the first as he slipped under her bra. 

Gray eyes opened in surprised as his rough fingers brushed her nipples. Her gaze was unfocused, but his wasn’t. Her surprise was gratifying as he squeezed one of her breasts as he again explored her mouth, finding a spot in her mouth that brought out a deeply enjoyable moan that vibrated against his lips. He again smiled, kissing her bottom lip before finding the corner, and kissing a trail to her ear, where he nibbled lightly at the pierced earlobe. It occurred to him that she wasn’t wearing any jewelry, and he found that interesting, being that it was obvious she could. She moaned again, this time in his ear, as she grasped the back of his neck, tugging, lightly, at his shirt. 

“Soon.”

He murmured into her ear. She started to say something, as his kisses moved down her neck. He stopped at her collarbone, suckling for a second, and pulled his head back a bit to watch the soft bruse grow. She was breathing heavier, but she was still holding onto him. He suddenly pulled her shirt off, dragging it, and the bra over her head, and lifting her hands up. He caught them before they could drop, pinning her, arched, against the center rib of the boat. He looked down her, dropping the bra and shirt on the table beside her. She was straining a bit against his hand, but it was mostly because she was on her toes. He captured her lips with his again, distracting her as his other hand found her breast, squeezing, and roughly playing with her nipple. She whimpered against his mouth, and again struggled to get her hands away. 

He wasn’t one for foreplay, at least not often. Jenny knew that all too well, and liked to remind him off it. In this case, he felt justified. He moved his mouth down to her breast, sucking on the one he wasn’t squeezing, though he changed to a more gentle movement, enjoying her squirming, and sounds. Gentle gasps, louder moans, and once, when his teeth bit down on her nipple, a scream. He enjoyed it, though he did pull back a bit to check her face. She actually glared at him when he stopped moving, and he found himself laughing a bit, finding her lips with his again. His lips were intoxicating for her, and she found herself rather lost every time he did kiss her. When he finally trailed a finger below her pants was a relief, though he didn’t actually do much beyond tease her. 

He had a bit of an issue getting the button of her jeans undone, not wanting to let her hands go, but when he did finally get them loose, she wiggled a little, and they fell down around her legs. She picked up one foot at a time, not wanting to make it that difficult. The silver haired man kissed her lips, this time gently, as his other hand slipped under her underwear. She gasped as he slid his fingers into her. She gasped, her eyes opening much wider in surprise. He smiled, watching her face. His fingers took a few, agonizingly slow (for her) moments as he found the right spots and rhythm. When he figured it out, how ever, she was beyond grateful. Her orgasm was hard, and in his opinion, rather beautiful. She arched up, gasping , her toes pointing at the floor. He kissed her as her breathing just started to go back to normal. He let her hands go finally, and she practically collapsed. He caught her, as she started to shiver. He decided to move her up stairs, and carefully put her down, and pulled her along. By the time they got to the top of the stairs, she was actually managing to pulling the back of his shirt up. He turned around and kissed her, pushing her against the wall. At some point she got her socks off. 

By the time they got to the bed, he was as undressed as her, though his was more littered down the hall to his bed. She ended up underneath him, as they got more desperate. When he pressed into her, she gasped, feeling the movement of him inside of her. It wasn’t long before her orgasm started, as she ran her hands over his body, finding spots that had him gasping as well. She lost count of how many orgasms she’d had but when he finally pulled off of her, and collapsed beside her, she was fully sated. As was he. 

She curled up next to him, her hand falling in his, starting to drift off to sleep. Something she didn’t expect was the fact that she knew, he was quite relaxed, and sleepy. It was more than just seeing it, she could feel it. For her it was somewhere in her chest, where she’d assume her heart was. She reached out to touch the matching spot on his chest, and she felt a twinge of pain from him, and lifted her head. He turned his head towards her, smiling, even though she could tell something was wrong. He soothed her with his other hand, running his fingers up and down her arm. She felt what could only be a very relaxing emotion coming from him, and found herself falling asleep. 

Gibbs watched her, feeling the pain of loss. Shannon had done the same thing. He felt a bit lost, but he also felt quite a bit better. He could feel Juliet’s concern. It was a comfort, even as she fell asleep next to him. He knew the drill, really. In the morning, they’d be a lot closer. Not quite what he’d planned for the day, but she needed the comfort, and so had he. He turned towards her and pulled her into his arms on his side. She shifted so she was pressed against him, and he pulled his blankets around them, as, for the second time, he fell asleep.


	9. Changed Perception

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Juliet and Jethro find out the perks of being Mated. A warm morning, and we are getting closer to catching the bad guy. Also, Dream Sequence Warning!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fluff, enjoyment, and some intimacy, of the none sex verity. Swearing is happening, a bit.

Sun streamed through the window, falling on the pair under the drab covers. Instead of waking up, Jethro pulled the covers over his face, and curled more around Juliet. She murmured something, and didn’t wake up.

_She stood before him. The beautiful red head of his youth. She smiled at him her green eyes bright. She was wearing a soft pink shirt, which didn’t wash her out, and blue jeans. Her hair was tied back with a green bandana, and she looked soft, gentle and has a slight glow, like the days after when she gave birth to Kelly._

_“Hello Jethro.”_

_He felt himself light up as she spoke to him, moving forward to take his hands._

_“Shannon.”_

_His voice caught as he said her name, and she moved forward to embrace him. He wrapped his arms around her, and he swore he could smell her. The familiar sent was calming to him, and he held her closer._

_“Jethro, you're hugging me a little too tight.”_

_He quickly let go, looking down at her, brushing her hair back._

_“So you found her? I wondered when you would.”_

_Jethro blinked, eyeing her. She smiled, touching his face, laughing a bit._

_“Dear, I was one of the only people you told about having a second soulmate.”_

_“She’s not you.”_

_“No. But you need her. You were never one to be without someone, and still be healthy. Though I would never tell Tony that.”_

_He laughed, pulling her close and kissing her lips. She responded, though with more fire than Juliet. She responded with as much fervor as him. He was suddenly comparing the two, and Shannon pulled away._

_“Stop it. She’s not me. She’ll never be me. Nor does she deserve you expecting her to be. She’s her own person, similar to me, in a few ways, but blindingly different in others.”_

_Her glare was scorching, and he felt ashamed. She touched his arm gently. He felt the dream start to change._

_“Jethro, she was to be my Soulmate too, so I’m going to give you a gift. Share in her dreams, and she can share in yours.”_

_Jethro frowned as things started to change. The original dream was soft, a bit darker, warm. This new dream was warmer, almost burning hot. It was yellow, bright and beyond hot. Gibbs glanced at Shannon, who had aged. Her hair was white now, and she had wrinkles, but they were smile lines, and only added to her beauty._

_“I thought that was a myth.”_

_“No, Dear, it never was, it’s only necessary if one or both of the Mated is hurt. The two of you… need it.”_

_Jethro frowned, worried what she was thinking. She was watching the woman to their left, and his gaze followed hers. There, standing in military fatigues, and armor, holding a pistol, firing out into the dream that neither Shannon or he could see. The shots were even, and calm, at least for the moment._

_Then the dream came into focus, and Juliet was standing behind a rock, firing over it, a truck behind them smoking from an attack. They were in Iraq. Shannon looked around, confused, but Gibbs moved forward, realizing it was a nightmare as he saw the man at her feet, bleeding out._

_“Juliet!”_

_Suddenly he had a gun in his face as the woman spun. He could see the tears in her eyes as she blinked, staring at him._

_“J-jethro?”_

_Her gun lowered, and he quickly moved close enough to touch her. The dream changed instantly, as she responded to the touch. They were again in the gentle, slightly darker, and softer space. She looked around. Gibbs noticed the blood and the dirt, and tears on her face, and reached out to wipe the tears away with his thumb. She closed her eyes._

_“How are you here?”_

_She asked that suddenly, her gray eyes opening again._

_“I’m teaching you two how to share dreams. You both need it. Though I’ll also teach you the ability to block one another.”_

_Juliet must have looked scared a bit, because Shannon walked forward with amusement. Gibbs glanced down at Juliet, shorter than either of them. Her dark hair and gray eyes reminded him of winter, and Shannon of summer, even with her white hair. Shannon took Juliet’s hand, and pulled her away from Gibbs. As she did so, the dream form of the younger shifted. Shannon did too. Dressed in a long green dress, celtic styled, and her hair braided back, Shannon looked the part. Juliet was dressed in a blue dress, almost the same, her hair also braided. It was an interesting dichotomy, and he wondered, vaguely, why this was happening. Shannon and Juliet had moved far enough away for him to hear their voices but not their words. He didn’t feel the need to follow, but a sense of peace. While in real life they’d never get to meet, here, both of his soulmates could._

_Juliet seemed to relax, and Jethro hoped she was ok. That nightmare looked more like a flashback. He was going to have to ask. He also wondered what they were talking about, but for some reason, he seemed to realize that it wasn’t important._

_In the distance, Juliet found herself comforted by an older woman. She wondered, for just a second, as to who it was. The woman smiled gently at her._

_“Juliet, I’m Shannon. Jethro would have introduced us, but I thought it would be better to save you from your flashback. I didn’t know you were that afraid of losing people.”_

_Juliet blinked, and then looked down. Shannon reached forward and pulled the woman’s head up to look at her._

_“I’m tired of people leaving.”_

_“And scared. Jethro won’t leave you willingly. Except for his duty. He’s a bit duty bound.”_

_They both laughed at that one. It was true. The younger one relaxed._

_“Don’t let him fool you. He’s very likely going to try to keep you at a distance. This is a way to make sure he knows you are there. Losing me and Kelly hurt him more than he’s willing to admit to himself.”_

_The older woman spoke gently, giving Juliet some advise. A lot of it, was simply about herself. Juliet was marveling at the fact that she was speaking to a woman many years dead, and when she looked over, there was Jethro. What amazed her more was the fact that he’d pulled her out of her nightmare. It was nice, actually. Maybe dream sharing was real?_

_Suddenly Shannon took her hand and pulled her back to Jethro. The three of them stood there for a moment._

_“When you want to touch each others minds, just call one anothers names in your mind. It’ll work when you are awake or asleep, though if you are awake, it’ll only let the other know that they are needed, not how or why. It would be better to use a phone.”_

_Juliet and Jethro nodded._

_“As for you, Jethro. Let Juliet be who she is, don’t turn her into me. I’d be very disappointed if you did.”_

_Jethro nodded, reaching for her hand. She smiled as she pulled away._

_“Go back to sleep, Dear, you both need it.”_

Jethro’s blue eyes opened first, as the sun made itself much more obnoxious. He realized he was curled around Juliet, who had ended up in a fetus position. He stretched out, moving a little back from his Mate. She blinked her eyes open, and shifted, glancing up at him.

“Hi.”

She smiled as she spoke, and he returned the smile. For the first time in a long time he felt at peace. He guessed she didn’t. She looked around the room, as if trying to figure out where she was. It came back to her and she sighed, stretching out, her feet brushing his leg. She was cold and he yelped pulling away. She laughed at him a bit.

“How are you cold?”

His voice was still rough with sleep, and had a bit of gray stubble. He glared at her as she giggled at him, reaching down to brush his stomach with her hand. He yelped again, and she found her hands pinned above her head and him crouched over her. She stared innocently up at him, before he kissed her lips. She returned the kiss, still laughing a bit.

He rolled off of her, and sat up, glancing at her. She stretched, sitting up. She rubbed her eyes as she climbed out of the bed. He enjoyed the view as she looked around, realizing all of her clothes were downstairs. She glanced at him as he grinned at her. She spotted his shirt in the doorway, and snatched it up, tugging it over her head. It fell to between her knees and her hips.

He caught up to her before she walked out the door to find her clothing and pulled her into a warm hug, and a kiss.

“Good morning.”

He murmured into her ear. She smiled, and pressed her forehead against his shoulder.

“Good Morning.”

She returned the favor easily, before pulling away. She quickly went to find her clothing, all down in the basement, which was cold. She pulled them on easily, though kept on the overly large polo shirt. It was blue, which was nice. She came back upstairs holding her shirt and her boots. Jethro was in the kitchen, making coffee. She found him easily, looking into the kitchen. In jeans and a white undershirt, she just watched from the archway. He continued, noticing he didn’t have much in his fridge. He glanced at her as the coffee finished.

“Coffee?”

He motioned to the pot. She smiled, and she moved forward. The morning after was nice, actually. She moved towards him, easily moving through the kitchen to his side.

“Sure. Do you have sugar?”

He made a face as she located the sugar he did have. Not a whole lot. She eyed it for a moment, before deciding it should be safe.

“Abby baked with it at one point.”

He explained, realizing that he was going to have to change things. Having food would be a good idea.

“We should probably go eat out somewhere.”

Gibbs eyed his shirt on her after she spoke, dumping a great deal of sugar into her cup and pouring her coffee to drink it. She glanced down.

“What? It smells like you.”

He chuckled, as she took a sip of her coffee, and made a face.

“Damn, I fucked that up.”

He pulled her close, and kissed her head. They were not talking about the dream, but they seemed more at ease with one another. A knock on the front door had them booth frowning to look at it.

Jethro walked easily towards the door, though he would have preferred she had not followed him. He opened the door to find Ziva. Gibbs eyed her for a moment.

“I got here about midnight. You two were asleep. I didn’t want her to panic. I know your door is always unlocked, but she might not.”

Juliet nodded, thankfully. Gibbs sighed and moved aside. Ziva came inside, eyeing the shirt on Juliet’s body. She glanced at Gibbs and then moved further inside. She smelled the coffee, and took a sip of her own. Her paper cup was warm, and she prefered the taste.

Gibbs moved back into the kitchen to grab his coffee and Juliet followed.

“Where should we eat?”

He asked, taking a sip of his coffee as he looked at Juliet, deciding she didn’t quite fit in, in his house. She was not a housewife. Nothing about her said housewife. She had to much passion for to many things. Those horses, her photography, writing. He had no doubt he’d learn even more about her as time went on. She looked just slightly out of place. Where Shannon had fit in perfect, Juliet was just a little out of place. Near him, was a good look on her, even wearing his shirt, which Shannon would never have done. In an old kitchen? Not so much. She’d fit in much better at her cabin. He watched her as she obviously tried to figure out where to eat.

“Somewhere with waffles.”

He found himself laughing again as she responded. He found her adorable. Sexy, at times, but adorable. She was about 15 years younger than him. He was in his late forties, and she seemed to be in her thirties. She smiled at him as he laughed. She didn’t have his experience, but somehow, he knew she was someone he needed. Just like he’d known he’d needed Tony, McGee, Ziva and Abby.

“I know a good place.”

\---

Ziva ended up going back to baby sit Juliet’s brother, and she’d changed back into her shirt, and put on her coat, and such. They’d ended up at a small family owned restaurant. A spot in the corner. Coffee, with creamer for her, and just black coffee for him. It was Juliet who brought up the dream first.

“Shannon seemed quite sweet.”

Gibbs had been watching a very old couple across the room, who were very bad at not noticing them. He caught the woman’s eye, and had a staring contest until Juliet had spoken. His eyes snapped back to hers, his attention taken by her. Vaguely he heard the old woman get a bit confused. Soulmates tended to do the over focus thing when their mates were speaking.

“She was. She liked you.”

Juliet nodded, noting that he’d been watching someone else. She wondered who he was looking at, but was more focused on talking to him. She reached out to touch his hand, and he quickly took it, rubbing a gentle circle on the inside of her thumb. He’d flipped her hand over to do so.

“Good. She always that pretty?”

Juliet was trying to pull him into speaking, and he sighed, eyeing her for a moment.

“I have pictures back at the house. I’ll show you.”

She nodded. So talk about it later.

“Who are you watching like a hawk? Someone taking a disliking to the fact at the age difference.

“A couple. Old. The wife keeps watching the back of your head.”

Juliet laughed a bit. She reached up and fluffed her hair back, enjoying the moment of making the woman feel uncomfortable. She turned around to look at the woman, and waved. Gibbs had to fight back a laugh, but he did smile. Shannon would never have done that. She’d have been rather embarrassed. Juliet refused to let the world decide for her how she should act. She glanced at him, smiling.

“I could make it worse.”

He shook his head, smiling at her.

“Be nice Jule.”

She turned to glance at him. He hadn’t called her anything but Juliet, or Ms. Hart up until now.

“You got that from Darren.”

He nodded, watching her. She had her head cocked a bit to the left, as if trying to figure out how she liked it.

“Does it bother you?”

She shook her head. He had changed it a bit. Jule. Interesting. She leaned back as the food came, and dug in easily. They did have to go soon though, and she scarfed her food a great deal faster than he did his. She drank her coffee, happily. The pain of loosing her father was distant for the moment. She’d heard a lot about what happened when you found your soulmate, and consummated the relationship. It was hard to feel sad for a few hours later. And afterwards, you would never be alone, which was nice. She watched him as he ate, and he glanced up as he put stake into his mouth.

“What?”

He asked after finishing. She smiled at him and didn’t respond, turning her gaze out the window to watch the cars and the snow. Jethro stared at her as he ate. She was an odd one. Wild, even. Not someone who tied themselves to one spot unless they had a real reason to. He wanted her to stay close, but part of him knew that if she wanted to wonder, he couldn’t stop her.

He finished his food easily, and paid, as they left. As they got to the door, she made sure to pulling him close and kissed him. The gasp from the old lady made her quite happy, as they walked outside, and he grabbed her hand as they moved to the NCIS car. He had a case to finish, and he wasn’t going to let her to far out of his sight for a while.


	10. The Other Ms. Hart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's more than one Ms. Hart. Gibbs is faced with an old lover, and of course, Juliet doesn't do what he wants.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sorry for the wait. A lot has happened (including a move, being sick for almost a month and a few other things), which is why I haven't posted. I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things. I am also hoping that within the next chapter or so we'll get to catching the bad guy, but no promises.

The squeal that came from the woman beside Gibbs as they walked through the doors of NCIS HQ surprised him and he looked down to see her rushing past him to hug a very pregnant redhead. Beside her was a tall marine with a bulldog like face, who was smiling as Juliet ran up and wrapped her arms around the pregnant woman. Gibbs’ blue eyes watched her, a bit possessively as she took a step back to speak to the man beside her. He reached an arm out and she quickly gave him a hug, a hand still in the redhead’s hand. When she pulled back it got more serious, and Gibbs drew closer. 

“-couldn’t be here sooner. We were on the plane when you called.”

Juliet nodded, biting her lip. Jethro was quickly coming to realize that she did that when she was stressed, or trying not to cry. He refrained from reaching out, waiting as the marine glanced up at him, nodded and again turned his attention back to Juliet as he finished speaking. 

“Its ok.”

Her tone was off, and Jethro gave her a long look, as did the red head. 

“Uh uh. I don’t think so. I know that face.”

The redhead was admonishing, and Jethro watched as Juliet looked down at her feet, trying to seem small. He nodded to the Marine as the man noticed him finally. The blonde man eyed the NCIS agent, his green eyes a bit accusatory. Jethro just stared back. At least until Juliet noticed. 

“John, Lydia, This is Jethro Gibbs…”

She paused as if trying to figure out how to explain what he was to her. He reached out and pulled her close. John’s eyes squinted, and Jethro noticed the man’s position changed to the balls of his feet. Jethro just stared at him, rather unamused. The marine wasn’t watching Jethro though. Juliet just leaned into the half hug, her eyes half closing, and Lydia McMahn smiled. 

“Oh Jonny! She told us when she was a kid that she saw a face, remember?”

The redhead turned to her husband excited, though she had a hand on her stomach. Jethro eyed the woman as she pulled her husbands attention from Juliet down onto his pregnant wife. He smiled down at her as she distracted him, but he looked a bit confused. His wife’s smile turned a bit cold on him. 

“What?”

His hands had moved to her hip and stomach, but they pulled away and up, palms towards her. 

“Soulmate. He’s her soulmate. She told us about him when she was a kid. She described him pretty well. Those eyebrows are rather striking.”

The redhead turned towards Jethro with a smile, and held out her hand. 

“I’m Lydia McMahn, this idiot is Major John McMahn, we’ve been Juliet’s friends since grade school. Our family’s always ended up in the same place. My mother was their daddy’s team member.”

Jethro smiled and took the woman’s hand. The woman’s grip was strong, but gentle, and he could tell Lydia would be a mother bear. The Major eyed his wife before sighing, as Juliet just stayed very close to the gray haired man. He held out his hand. 

“Major McMahn. Friends call me John. She and Juliet get to call me Jonny.”

Juliet smiled at that, her hand resting on Jethro’s, though she didn’t quite take his hand. He took hers however, using his other hand to take John’s. 

“Jethro.”

Juliet decided to take over at that point as she saw the grip between them got a bit tighter than normal. 

“So, why are you two here?”

Both men released their grip as she spoke, as if startled. She eyed Jethro who gave her a sheepish smile. She could tell it wasn’t a well used one. She watched him for a moment, before her gray eyes flicked to her best friend.

“To pick you up. We were told by an Agent McGee that Juliet would be here. We know you’re in a protection detail, but I’d like to spend time with you.”

With that the pregnant woman pulled Juliet away from Gibbs. She spotted what could only be a coffee shop. 

“And we won’t even leave the building, Jethro.”

Jethro took a second longer to let go of Juliet’s hand. Her friend eyed him for a moment, but it was obvious there wasn’t a whole lot he was going to be able to do. Jethro shrugged and walked towards the elevator, wondering what his team had found so far. They had to find Admiral Hart’s murderer and soon. 

\---

The sight of another dark haired, gray eyed woman standing at Jethro’s desk, leaning on it, and talking to McGee had him a little worried. He’d recognized the name Hart, but had managed to ignore it for a while. He sighed and made his way towards them. 

“McGee!”

His tone was sharp as Margaret Hart, Attorney and McGee turned to look at him. He had a grim look. 

“Ms. Hart.”

His tone was just as sharp, but quieter. McGee jumped back and moved towards his desk. 

“Sorry Boss, Ms. Hart is here to represent the Admiral’s estate. Apparently she’s been the family’s attorney for years.”

Jethro just stared at at Hart trying to figure out where she fit in the family. 

“I’m the Admiral’s niece, Mr. Gibbs. I’ve been told you’ve placed both of my cousin’s under protection and I’d like to speak with both of them.”

She was all business, but Jethro expected nothing less. He watched her for a moment, before walking around her to sit down. 

“Mr. Gibbs, where are my clients?”

Gibbs looked up at her as he sat down, and push out a bottom lip for a second. 

“Juliet is down stairs with her friends, surrounded by agents. Major Hart is currently at….”

He paused looking at McGee. The man stood up quickly, looking a bit awkward. 

“At the airport, waiting for his soulmate to land. Tony’s with him.”

The very pale woman nodded. Juliet was tan. He had a feeling she’d get pale after a couple of weeks in the D.C. winter, but at the moment, she was deeply tan from almost 13 months in the sun in Iraq. He hadn’t realized he was staring until she cleared her throat. 

“Fine, I’ll go speak with Juliet. She must be traumatized.”

With that the lawyer stalked off grabbing her coat and bag. McGee watched her as she walked off. 

“McGee, where is Ziva?”

McGee blinked and looked at him. 

“Ah… coffee.”

Jethro nodded and turned his attention to his computer screen. 

“Boss, we’ve been keeping an eye on Aldin’s financials, no movement yet, but we haven’t frozen his accounts. Tony said we might be able to flush him out that way.”

The gray haired man looked up for a moment, before nodding and going back to trying to follow up leads. The other man was distracted by Ziva coming up with four cups of coffee. She’d run out to get coffee, but hadn’t been sure who’d be here. She gave McGee his cup first before noticing Gibbs and moving towards his desk. 

“Ziva, have you found anything about where Aldin might be?”

The gray haired man eyed the only woman on his team. The woman nodded, holding out his coffee. Jethro took it as he eyed the woman before him. The sip was warm, and bitter, just how he liked it. 

“I have found nothing so far. I believe he has possumed.”

The look Gibbs gave her had her frowning, but it was McGee who saved her with a quick reminder of what the real word was. 

“Why would someone rabbit? How do any of your american expressions make sense?”

Ziva sighed and stalked back towards her desk, leaving the last cup on Tony’s desk and sat down, attempting to find more information on something she wasn’t sure was even there. By the time Tony came upstairs everyone was annoyed. Tony blinked as his team were all in states of annoyance, though that wasn’t any different from normal for his boss, but Ziva was usually only annoyed if he himself was being annoying, and McGee hardly ever got annoyed unless it had to do with computers. He walked up carefully, hoping to just slip into his chair. 

“DiNozzo, where is Major Hart?”

The sharp words from the boss man had Tony wincing a bit. 

“Downstairs with Juliet and Ms. Hart. Is she really their family lawyer and their cousin? I mean I see the family resemblance, but…”

His voice trailed off as Jethro turned his blue eyes on Tony. The younger agent smiled, and sat down abruptly. 

“McGee what do we have?”

Tony’s voice was a bit playful as he pointed at McGee. The other man gave him a glare as he put what little they had up on the screen. 

“The same we’ve had so far Tony. Just searching for more leads, which you should have been doing an hour ago, how long does it take to get from Reagan to here?”

Tony scoffed, as he pointed to the window. Outside the wind was blowing the falling snow around quite abruptly.

“Well, McWeather, it’s snowing, which makes everyone a little crazy. Driving was just so much fun.”

McGee glared at Tony as the man sat down at his desk, eyeing the coffee. He took the cup and drank it, nodding to Ziva as he realized it was still warm. She smiled at him, staying out of his little spat with McGee. 

The ding from the elevator had everyone looking over. Juliet, Darren, his soulmate, and Allison Hart all walked through the opening doors, the family resemblance between the two women rather striking. They could have been sisters. Juliet looked worried, but her cousin looked smug. All eyes were on them as the lawyer lead the way. 

“Mr. Gibbs, I am requesting to have the Harts be removed to a remote location. Staying here isn’t exactly what either of them would be wanting to do when they have to plan for their father’s funeral.”

The glare Darren gave the woman had Jethro eyeing Allison for a moment, before letting his gaze turn to Juilet. She frowned at the other woman, obviously annoyed. 

“I can’t do that. They are under NCIS protection.”

He gave the other woman a long stare as she eyed him. 

“Agents can come with, I’m not saying they don’t, I’m saying this place is not conducive to mourning, and that they should be allowed to go other places.”

“No.”

“No? Mr. Gibbs, my clients need time to get over the emotional strife of their father’s loss, and NCIS is not the place to do it.”

Juliet was still quiet, and Jethro had a feeling Darren and Allison had talked her into leaving. 

“Juliet?”

He asked the word softly standing up. She glanced up at him. 

“I…. I do want to go somewhere else. And we do have to get funeral stuff set up. Even if the body hasn’t been released, and I don’t want you to rush Ducky…”

She blinked at him, obviously off kilter again. He nodded. This was her decision, and he couldn’t exactly stop her, though he wanted to pull her close and never let go. 

“Ziver, McGee, go. DiNozzo, talk to Duck.”

“On it boss!”

The three were in chorus as they grabbed their bags, and Jethro was forced again to watch Juliet walk away, though she did glance back at him a couple of times. Allison stayed put, watching him. 

“She told me about you two. Does Vance know?”

Jethro turned his blue eyes on her as the elevator doors dinged shut, his team all gone. Anger was visible for only a second, but the other Ms. Hart frowned. 

“No.”

She sighed, glancing up the stairs where the Director would be. 

“By law I have to tell him.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Actually I do. It would be better coming from you.”

Gibbs glared at the woman before stalking past her, and moving towards the stairs. When he got to the top of them the glanced down. She was already gone, probably to watch over her charges. He entered the office unannounced to be told that Vance was in MTAC, so there he went. When he entered Vance was speaking with someone over video conference, and stayed quietly in the background, waiting. It took only a few more moments, but it was obvious that Vanse was assuring the other man that they were handling the Admiral’s death carefully. 

When the feed cut out Gibbs walked further into the room, stopping beside his director. 

“What do you have Gibbs?”

The shorter man frowned for a second. How to explain this without getting himself removed from the case. Not that it would do any good, but still. 

“Does it have anything to do with your budding relationship with Ms. Juliet Hart?”

Gibbs didn’t look surprised, but there were times when he wondered how Vance always knew these things. He just stared back at the man for a moment. 

“I’m assume it won’t get in the way of figuring out who murdered Admiral Hart. If that’s all, I have paperwork to get done. Tell Ms. Allison Hart that she should bud into someone else's business.”

With that Vance was gone, and Gibbs was left to the dark room by himself. He had a case to solve, and solve it he would.


	11. Ingenious Ideas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Juliet gets moody, Jethro gets some interesting news, but there's no real time to dwell on it, and Juliet has a very interesting, but dangerous idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the time it's been taking me to write. A lot has been going on lately, and it doesn't look like it'll end anytime new. I will hopefully get to the really good stuff soon, I swear. I think the next chapter will be a fun one.

The sound of gravel crunching had Juliet confused. They were at her cousin’s house. She had spent most of her time at the back of the house, holding her phone, and listening to her family talking. The sun was starting to fall. She knew the two agents were around the house. One was probably outside, and the other was sitting with her brother, and cousin. She didn’t know who’d be arriving at the house. Jethro and Tony weren’t due for another hour or so. She supposed Jethro might have left early, but something didn’t sound right. 

The sound of one door slamming made her even more confused, but only she seemed to notice. She frowned as she turned towards the front door. No one else seemed to notice. But then everything went quiet again, as her brother continued to talk about caskets. She was forced into the conversation when her brother turned to ask her a question about that topic. She answered softly. 

“Wouldn’t Dad have said what he wanted in the will?”

Her brother frowned, eyeing her for a moment, before shaking his head. She bit her lip, looking down. Why did her father have to leave them with so many things unanswered, she did her best not to cry again. She hated this lonely feeling. She missed Jethro. She knew that was the tentative bond. Not many kids got through life without hearing all about soulmates. The bond was actually quite rare. Comparatively.

There were billions of people on the planet, and trillions of different types of bonds one could have with many different people, but there were only million’s of soul mated pairs in the entire world. Up until recently, marriage was based on what the family could give to one another, and not on love. Only until the regency era did non-soulmate love become fashionable. Jane Austen may not have had many non-main characters find love that weren’t soulmates, but there were non-soulmated pairs that were happy, or at least seemingly to be. The Victorian Era was when not having a soulmate was considered a good thing. You were unattached, you didn’t need to search for someone your entire life, and you could choose who you wanted to love. 

Of course those who had soulmates were still revered. The ease of those relationships was deeply desired. While a bonded pair could have arguments, they lasted the longest in marriage, and in general, their kids did better in life. The fact that most kids in her class hadn’t had soulmates had never bothered Juliet. And in life, she’d found that dating as if you didn’t have one had been fun, if a bit fruitless for her. She hadn’t really broken any hearts, and she’d gotten to watch real love blossom, from unmated souls, which was just as beautiful. She’d seen what losing a soulmate had done to her father, she had always been sure that the face she’d been seeing since she was twelve (though it had really only solidified when she’d turned 16), would just end up being a fluke. She knew better now, but still, it was something she had not prepared for. 

Her distant gaze out the window had gone unnoticed for only a short time, and her brother was again, pulling her into the conversation, now about when the will would be read. They already knew her brother was to execute the will, and that she’d be getting most of their father’s stuff, most of their mother’s, and all of the money, while he and Aaron would get the house, and what was left of their parent’s stuff. She watched him for a moment before shrugging. It was then that Aaron stood up. 

“Juliet, can you help me with something? I’m thinking we need some tea, or coffee.”

Allison started to stand up, but the sandy haired man smiled at her, and waved her to sit down, holding out his other hand to his sister-in-law. She looked at his hand for a moment before taking it and letting him lead her to the kitchen. 

“So, alttayir alssaghir, you have seem distant. You know you are a sister to me, you can talk to me. Your brother is being strong, but I have no doubt he’ll break down later.”

Juliet stared at the blonde man before her. Aaron Gabriel Hart had been born with that name, though he’d also been born muslim. Apparently his parents had decided that he’d needed a more american name. Though truthfully, she had no idea who his parents were. They’d died before Aaron had gone into the CIA. Aaron had always been strong. Strong enough to be soulmated to her headstrong big brother, and still be able to bring out the softy in the dark haired man. They were an interesting couple. They both wanted children, but it wasn’t up to them at the moment. They both had a lot of work, so adopting was out of the question. 

“I’m not your ‘little bird’, Aaron, and I’m fine. Just in shock. It’ll go away eventually.”

The sigh of her brother-in-law was one she’d heard often, but usually at her brother, not her. 

“What is he going to do with you? Your soulmate will have to be warned that you are stubborn.”

She gave her friend a long glare and he smiled at her a little. She shook her head a little before moving past him, towards the front door. 

“You are a nosy man, Aaron Hart. It’ll get you in trouble.”

“Always does.”

It was then that she saw McGee. He was eyeing something out the front door. 

“Tim?”

Her tone was a bit worried, but he raised a hand. 

“There’s an unknown car out there. Arrived about 30 minutes ago. I called Gibbs already. They are on their way. Who ever it is, is just sitting there.”

Her gray eyes went wide as she realized what was going on. She stared through the door, knowing that if she moved in front of the window things might get worse. It was about then that Ziva quietly herded her back into the living room, and she sat down next to her brother, grabbing his hand. He hadn’t quite noticed yet, but she was fairly sure that Ziva and McGee were trying not to alarm them. 

Of course that changed quickly. Ziva’s voice was soft, but she couldn’t really be less serious. 

“I’m sorry Major Hart, we believe Aldin is outside. We’d like you to stay put. Gibbs and Tony are coming, and we aren’t going to let anything happen.”

Juliet frowned as she realized what was going on. Aaron came in the room and her brother left her side. Her cousin took his place. She looked at the woman that could have been her sister with worry. 

“Hey, Jethro will be here soon, we just have to stay put. Though that’ll be an issue with your brother. No doubt he wants to go shoot Aldin.”

Juliet went white at that admission, and the glare she gained from Darren made the pale lawyer frown a bit. She stood up and moved to the back of the room, frowning rather deeply. A knock on the door had everyone freezing for a moment, though Ziva was the first to move, eyeing the person out the doors spy hole. 

“Come on Ziva, let me in.”

Juliet had moved to the door way to see what Ziva was doing. She sighed as she opened the door, and the tall agent came through the door. Juliet looked past him for the silver haired agent, but he wasn’t there. 

“He’s speaking to the idiot in the car. Apparently he was payed to scare you guys. I’ll be taking him back to NCIS.”

Juliet was thankful when Tony answered her unsaid question. She moved back into the living room. She didn’t want to be here anymore. She sat down and closed her eyes, realizing she was still clutching her phone. She relaxed her fingers finding them to be a bit painful. She kept her eyes closed though, and everyone seemed to leave her alone, and for a while. Then a hand rested on her knee and she jerked upright. 

“Hey.”

She met blue eyes and smiled a little. He was here! She felt like a teenager. He returned her smile, but waited for her to speak. 

“I… missed you.”

She spoke softly, resting her hand on his. He took her hand easily, rubbing a small circle on the top of her hand. He stood up, pulling her to her feet, and then wrapped his arms around her, his eyes closing as he pressed his face into her shoulder, smelling her hair. She buried her face against him, closing her eyes and just trying to calm down. He stood there holding her as long as she needed. He did glare at Ziva when she came into the room to see if they were done, but the former mossad officer ignored the glare. 

“Tony has brought the man to NCIS. McGee went with. We should move them to a safe house, Gibbs.”

Juliet took a step back, wondering what was going to happen now. The tall man took her hand for a moment, before nodding. 

“Let’s move.”

Juliet sighed as he walked past her, and she ended up following him, and grabbing her bag and pulling on her coat after he walked out the door. She glanced at her cousin. The woman smiled at her and pulled her into a hug. 

“Never thought you’d have to suffer through a night with him, but it seems you’re stuck huh. Well if you need a place to escape, I’m always here.”

Juliet was a bit confused as she went through the mechanical movements of hugging and kissing each cheek. She went outside to find it snowing again. She frowned as she stopped to eye the white night, wondering what the hell had happened to her over the last few days. Ziva motioned for her to go to the blue car in the driveway. She did dropping herself into the seat behind Jethro. He glanced at her as he backed up the car, but she was already lost in the thoughts he’d tried to distract her from. 

\---

The arrival at the safe house was uneventful, and Juliet disappeared into her original room. The team set up in the room, deciding that they’d get what they’d need from NCIS the next day. Jethro sent McGee and Tony to get food, and then home. Between himself, Ziva, and the two Hart men, not much was going to get at Juliet any time soon. He stalked in front of her door a few times before the Navy SEAL walked over to him and reached out a hand. The older marine responded by grabbing the other man’s hand, and twisting it. 

“Woh old man. I’m not here to fight. Leave Jem be. It’s not like she’s going to talk until she’s ready.”

Jethro let the younger man’s hand go and stepped back, frowning at the door. The eldest Hart smiled a little, rubbing his wrist. 

“I could have taken you if you hadn’t surprised me.”

Jethro’s eyes lit up a little, and he gave a little partial smile, deciding to sit down. The blond Hart came out with three beers. Ziva sat by the window cleaning a gun, a cup of coffee beside her, obviously put there by Aaron. She and he seemed to be bonding, over what, Jethro wasn’t sure, but the woman was like a daughter to him, and so he watched as Aaron gave his soulmate a beer, then himself, and then walked over to Ziva to sit with her. They started to speak in Hebrew, which Jethro knew very little of. Darren watched his soulmate for a moment, before finding a seat. Jethro followed, vaguely wondering where his agents were with the food. 

“I was lucky you know. I threw myself into the NAVY when Mom died.”

Darren’s voice was calm now, and Jethro turned his gaze on the dark haired man. He was tall, strong, and had some odd scars on his arms. He was a warrior, that was obvious. Jethro watched, and waited, realizing that if Juliet wasn’t going to talk, her brother might. 

“Juliet had to bring Dad back from the brink of depression, and fight her own, all while being fifteen. I disappeared, trying to cope with the Navy. It worked actually. She became obsessed with photography when she was only a kid, and it got worse after Mom died. She was lonely, really lonely. When she was in college she met men, and moved on. For the most part Juilet has spent her life being a nomad by choice. She almost went into the military, but Dad asked her not to. I think her work to keep him happy when she was in her late teens helped there. So she did the next best thing. War Journalist. I remember when Dad found out. He was pissed, but it’s nearly impossible to stay mad at her.”

The pause came just as the food arrived, and Juliet still didn’t come out. Jethro frowned, but sent McGee and Tony home, taking their food with them. The four of them ate quietly, enjoying the chinese. Juliet was still in her room as her brother started to speak again. 

“She get’s like this. She has an idea. When she gets thinking she can disappear for days. And generally we won’t like what ever idea she comes up with. WE won’t be able to argue with it, but she will have something to tell us when she’s ready. My sister is smart. She’s just shy of a doctorate in psychology at this point, but she has no desire to write a dissertation.” 

Quiet footsteps moved past them to the kitchen, and while both men were aware of Juliet getting food, they left her be, though she did run a hand over Jethro’s shoulder as she passed back to her room. He turned in time to see the door close. 

“Juliet is an odd woman. For the longest time she’d been quiet, and an introvert, having only a few friends, though brave, with the heart of a lion. She’d been riding when she was six, and by nine she was winning shows, but she barely spoke, barely had friends outside of us. None of us knew what she was really passionate about. When she turned fourteen, something changed. We don’t know what, but it was february of ‘91, when she changed. Became brighter, warmer, happier. Never lost her mysterious need for being alone, but she got friends, and learned to stand up for herself, and even started to stand up for kids younger than herself. None of us could explain it. She’s always been that way. Sometimes I can see that little kid before she turned fourteen, like when she gets an idea in her head, or when she’s lost in a project. Like now. You’ve got a lot to deal with, and I don’t envy you, Gibbs.”

“She seems like an interesting woman.”

Jethro’s tone was even, but it made Darren laugh. Blue eyes were a bit confused as the younger man laughed, enjoying himself at the idea of his sister just being ‘interesting’. He didn’t quite explain himself, he was just a bit lost. He didn’t really show it until Aaron came over, and rested a hand on the bigger man’s shoulder. Both Ziva and Jethro looked away, as Aaron lead Darren away for a bit. There was a lot going on, a lot of emotional turmoil, even from Jethro’s corner of the world. He wanted to go start a new project, but right now, he had a feeling Juliet needed him a bit more, and that was more important. February of 1991 was an interesting time for a change. He wondered if there was more than one way soulmates could be bonded. This wasn’t the time to think about or deal with that. He was glad he’d only had one beer. He knocked on her door before entering the bedroom. Juliet was curled up on the bed, her rice and orange chicken on the side table beside her, her hands clutching the blanket below her as if she was trying to hold onto something. Closed eyes told him that his soulmate had fallen asleep. He sat on the edge of the bed watching her. She needed rest. Lots of it. And he needed to catch her father’s killer, give her some peace. His hand rested on his leg, and she murmured something before turning around, gray eyes drifting open to look up at him. He smiled at her. 

“Hey babe.”

Her smile changed the entire feeling of the room, if only for a moment. Jethro was aware he was biased. A soulmate tended to be that way, but she was, objectively beautiful. She blinked at him, wondering at the name. She wasn’t sure she liked it, but it was just nice to have him there. Juliet sat up, crossing her legs, still holding his hand as she did so. 

“I need to talk to you.”

So Darren was right. She’d had an idea. And from the faded smile, and worried look, it wasn’t going to be pleasant for anyone involved. 

“I’m listening.”

Unlike when those words had been uttered at DiNozzo, McGee or Ziva, or even Abby, these were soft, and reassuring. He remembered the dream. Shannon wanted him to try, and that was only fair. 

“You won’t like it… like at all.”

He didn’t respond, just waiting. She smiled a little, before looking down at his hand and running her finger in a figure eight over his palm. He didn’t push, but did shift so he could get his shoes off and get a bit more comfortable on the bed. 

“I… don’t remember Aldin. It was three months six years ago. I mean, until I saw the picture yesterday, I had completely forgotten who he was. I...I-i think I have a way to draw him out. He hasn’t forgotten me. Dad was the one who chased him off, and James took it out on him.”

“Aldin.”

“What?”

 

“Call him Aldin, makes it easier for you.”

Juliet stared at Jethro confused for a moment. The man before her was serious, and she looked back down, continuing to trace an 8 onto his hand. He let her, waiting for her to drop the other shoe.The black haired woman’s face was covered by the long locks and yet he let her stay that way, not pushing anything. She’d tell him in time. 

“Aldin, then. He wants me. For whatever reason. I… I can get him to come out into the open, if I’m alone.”

When Jethro didn’t respond she looked up at him, through her hair. He looked upset. She started to pull her hands away, but he grabbed them both, and held her in place. 

“I…”

He paused trying to find the words. Under no circumstances did he want her to become a target. In fact he was against it. But even as he tried to find an argument, he was seeing she was right. 

“Jethro, I’m right. He’ll keep playing cat and mouse. Until he’s killed everyone I care about. I don’t know why he’s latched onto me, but I can draw him out, and you could catch him. I wouldn’t actually be alone. I’d have you near by, and Tony, and Ziva, and probably all of you in my ear.”

Her words were coming fast, but he knew that if he didn’t shut her up, she’d just keep going. He pulled her closer. 

“Juliet. I’m not arguing.”

She frowned as she let him pull her into his arms, and onto their side, her back to him. She found herself comfortable again, with his arms around her, though she could feel the tension behind her. She tried to turn around, but he didn’t let her. He pressed his face into the back of her head and she relaxed. So he wasn’t angry. 

“You aren’t angry?”

“I am.”

She froze, and he didn’t respond at first. 

“But you’re right.”

Logic was unexpected, and truthfully Juliet had a feeling she’d pay for it later. Probably in a great deal of possessiveness, and a need for her to stay close. Which could be an issue if she wanted to go do things, but right now, if she could get the shadow of her father’s killer to go away, she’d do anything. She wanted this over. She wanted time to put herself back together, and needed it almost desperately. Weather Jethro was apart of that she had no idea, Juliet just knew she needed time to herself, to understand the loss of her father, and to figure out how she was going to move past it this time. 

“And you are going to do it either way.”

How had he known that? Had her brother said something? She bet Darren had said something. She did manage to turn around this time, to look at him. His entire face was filled with worry, and anger, she could see that, but he was doing his best to keep it at bay. 

“You’re enough like her.”

Shannon, that’s what he’d meant. The woman who had taken Juliet’s place before. She wondered who she really was. Jethro knew, but Juliet? No idea. It was a bit disconcerting. Especially when she thought about being similar to the older woman. 

“You’re going to protect your family.”

“Yes… why are you being so reasonable.”

“Because there isn’t a point in disagreeing if you are right. Doesn’t mean I’ll make it easy, and the Director and Assistant Director might try to fight it anyways.”

“Well I’ll have to convince them.”

A soft smile was her response before he brushed a finger over her bottom lip. The gentle kiss lead nowhere however, as exhaustion finally overtook them almost at the same time, drifting off to sleep, safe, for now. Jethro with the thoughts of what her brother had said to him, and Juliet with plans of saving her family.


	12. Dangerous Criminal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aldin is caught, Juliet is wounded, but alive, and things might just get back to normal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope this was a fun chapter for you guys. It was fun to write. There will be more fluff, and possibly another story (though it'll probably be a lot of fluff, not sure) in a few days. I've got a lot going on right now but I'm hoping to have some fun with these two.

A beautiful car, a sunny winter afternoon, a sexy coat, a brand new camera and a back seat filled with gifts for christmas, horse tack, and feed, and clothes. All things that normally would make Juliet Hart a happy woman. She may have been a tomboy for most of her life, but cute clothing, shopping, and her very sexy 1960 shelby mustang (black, with silver highlights) were all things that jarred her out of her description of tomboy. Especially in her long dark green peacoat, dark jeans tucked into her high heeled winter boots, fake fur included. Her black bag had a gun in it, something that had surprised everyone but Jethro, who had promptly brought her to the NCIS shooting range to check her ability to shoot it. She was as good as DiNozzo, which she had already known. She had carried it in Iraq. She’d fired it there too. Juliet’s hair was flowing down her back with her gray beanie keeping her heat in, she walked down the street to her car for the second day, trying to draw out her father’s killer. She stopped beside the car, looking around, trying to act like she hadn’t just lost her father, like there was nothing wrong with her life. 

“Jules? Everything ok?”

She frowned as her soulmate’s voice came to her ears. It had not gone well two days ago, after she’d had a night of sleep she’d been sure she’d get her way. He’d apparently decided to disagree. Luckily, Jenny had been on her side, but Vance had demanded she wear an earpiece, wireless, and a very good armored vest, hence the peacoat, which helped hide it. She sighed in response to Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ worried voice. 

“It’s been two days. And nothing.”

She opened her car door with her keys and swung inside, sitting on the cream colored seats. She’d had it completely redone years ago. It had lived in her father’s garage for most of it’s time with her, but it was still her car. The quiet thunk of her car door closing reminded her of just two days before. 

\---

__

The sound of the garage was comforting, even if the person who lived in the house was gone. Two cars were in the garage. A truck, dark gray, obviously driven a great deal, and a tan blanket covering a smaller vehicle. Juliet walked in, her combat boots loud as she moved to touch the blanket. Behind her stood four agents. The eldest was eyeing the newer model chevy. DiNozzo was watching her, as was McGee, but Ziva had her gaze behind them, keeping an eye out for anything dangerous.

“Juliet, why are we here? You gonna drive the truck?”

McGee’s voice was curious and brought everyones attention to her. She laughed, shaking her head before grabbing a handful of the blanket. 

“No. I’ve got a better ride.”

With that she yanked the blanket off of her car. The light bouncing off of the silver and shiny black car as the blanket hit the truck behind her. She smiled as she heard the low whistle from someone behind her. She lightly touched the car as she walked past to a set of two keys and took one of them, dropping the blanket on the table under the key hooks. She moved back to the car and quickly opened up the drivers side. Tony was in awe as he walked forward to look over the car. She tossed him the keys as he got close to the passanger side. 

“Me?”

He seemed surprised and glanced at Gibbs. Juliet smiled at him. 

“Sure. Go ahead. Just don’t drive it. Between me and Dad it took us two years to get this sweetie to prime condition. I found her when I was sixteen in a junk yard, mat gray. It was terrible.”

Tony whined a bit at the idea of a ‘60 Shelby Mustang in a junk yard. He opened the door and slid inside. 

“Cream leather seats? That isn’t stock.”

Juliet shook her head as she crouched down to look at the tall agent in her little car. 

“No. But it’s sexy as hell. And looks amazing. There’s light brown highlights if you actually look. Makes the car special.”

She heard a footstep behind her and stood up. Large warm hands rested on her shoulders from behind. 

“Nice car.”

She smiled, leaning back pulling his arms around her, and closing her eyes for a second. 

“Yes, it is. One of my pride and joys. I bought the parts, he helped me figure out where they go, Darren put in the big stuff.”

A kiss to the side of the head was comforting, and she kept her eyes closed enjoying the moment. 

\---

Since then it had been non-stop waiting. Driving, meeting friends (or agents pretending to be friends), buying things, stopping for a great deal of coffee, and going home to Jethro’s place, something that she’d decided might piss off her, would be stalker, more than anything. 

“You’re the one with the plan, sweetheart.”

She sighed, rolling her eyes in the direction of the NCIS Van that her special agent and his team were waiting in case Aldin was stupid enough to come find her out in the open. 

“Thanks, Darlin’.”

She started her car and pulled out of the parallel spot, her voice slipping into a southern drawl. Back in the van Jethro smiled, and his two male agents shared a glance. Ziva was at the next stop of Juliet’s itinerary. They were supposed to be seeing a movie together. Some romance flick that Tony had said was actually pretty good before changing his story and getting a head slap from his boss. 

The rest of her drive was in silence, or it would have been if she hadn’t decided to listen to country christmas songs. Gibbs pulled the headset off in slight distaste, and watched from the camera set up in her car. She was trying to not cry. This was not what she wanted to be doing. She’d been forced to let her brother plan her father’s memorial, and at this point they’d gotten the body released. The funeral was the next day, Juliet wanted this all over by then, but she doubted she’d be that lucky, she’d even told Jethro this, as he’d pulled her jacket on, and kissed her cheek. It was nice to not be alone, but she was still used to being alone. Made some things hard to remember, and she wasn’t the only one suffering from that ailment. Jethro kept forgetting that she liked breakfast. Last night he’d broken down and bought more than just cereal and milk. Eggs, which was an improvement. Apparently he could cook omelets. 

She arrived at the theater and got out of her car, locking it as she did so. She had to park farther away from the theater than she’d liked, and as she walked down the road behind the cars, she wondered just how this day was going to play out. She just wished this all would be over. 

The sound of a gun cocking behind her had her freezing and raising her hands. 

“James?”

Her voice was curious, and a bit scared, she’d been startled. 

“I’ve been watching you, my Juliet.”

In the NCIS van the team froze for half a second. She had a brooch (horse shaped) that was also a camera, and they watched as she turned around. Standing before her was James Aldin. His sandy brown hair, and green eyes striking, as was the gun pointed at her heart. 

“I’ve… I’ve been wondering where you were. It’s been six years right?”

Tony put his foot further on the gas and turned prayed they’d get there in time. Ziva had to be responding, and from her voice coming through the speakers she was. 

“On the move Gibbs. Juliet stay calm, I’ll be there soon.”

Juliet didn’t respond, staring down the barrel of the silenced gun up at the man she’d had a short, three month fling with. He’d been handsome then, and age had done him well. She stared up at him, hoping he’d talk.

“Your father chased me away from you.”

Cursing the fact that her gun was in her bag, and not on her hip, she stayed sober, waiting, knowing that there was more to come. There had to be. She had never told any of her boyfriends that she’d had a soulmate. They weren’t it, and she wasn’t looking for permanence, just companionship, which they had given her. A few had figured out. James Aldin had not.

“We are meant for one another Juliet. I… I never stopped loving you. People without soulmates have to stick together. I-I can be as perfect for you as a soulmate ever could.”

Juliet did her best to keep a good poker face. She heard what she assumed was a growl from her soulmate. She took a step back when James took one forward. That was not going to happen. Unlike her namesake, she wasn’t won over by pretty words and a death or two. 

“He was going to refuse to let me see you. I had to. You deserve to be happy. We deserve to be happy together. I gave up the Navy for you. I gave up everything for you.”

Juliet smiled, trying, hoping, that she’d get this right. 

“I know, James. I know. You were very brave.”

The gun wavered down, towards her stomach. Well at least that shot wouldn’t kill her right off. Juliet was already calculating her chance of life. Before it had been zero. That gun went off it would have gone through her heart, even with the vest, they were at close range and that was definitely a Desert Eagle. Israeli made. 45. Caliber. She bet it had hollow points, still in it from when he’d murdered her father. 

“You eluded me, over and over again. He would never let me speak to you. He deserved to die.”

Juliet managed to keep back an angry exclamation. She heard a loud screetch of tires, but at the moment it didn’t matter. She should be more careful what she wished for. 

“James. You could have talked to me. My daddy didn’t have to die.”

She tried to make herself seem upset at saying the word daddy. That was a ploy. She hadn’t called her father that since she was 10, except in her phone. Aldin visibly responded to her word usage though and lowered the gun further, now pointed off to her left and away from her. She took a step forward, one hand lowering towards the gun. 

“Give me the gun, this doesn’t have to end like this.”

The gun came back up and her hand went back up again, her fingers getting cold. She’d worn fingerless gloves. Now she was wishing she hadn’t. Her gray eyes searched his face as it hardened. 

“I saw you with him, Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs. I saw you make love to him.”

Juliet went cold. She’d already lost this fight if Aldin knew. The man was quickly raising the gun up towards her heart again. 

“He has to have tricked you Juliet. You… you can’t have a soulmate. I’m your soulmate!”

The last word was a scream, and Juliet felt her breath catch as the gun came up towards her head. Well that was an absolute zero percent chance of surviving. Head shots tended to lead to death. 

“NCIS, Drop your weapon!”

The clear voice of Agent Ziva David was a relief, short lived as a gunshot went off. Juliet felt heat on the left side of her head, just above her ear, and managed to just stifle the scream of pain as she dropped down, clutching at the side of her head. She watched as Aldin spun, turning the gun on the beautiful brunette woman. Juliet heard the heavy footsteps of three men running towards them, but she had her own weapon. She dropped her hands and reached for her gun, yanking it out and standing back up, ignoring the red color on her hands, and arm. She wasn’t dead, just in pain. She had the barrel of her little barretta pointed at Aldin’s head as he spun again, realizing she was moving. 

“Y-you can’t! I-I Love you!”

Juliet let a sneer cover her face, not knowing how it looked. The gun held on her wavered as she kept her’s trained on him. Ziva glanced at Juliet as the other three agents came up, guns raised. She looked fierce. Tanned skin only made darker by the blood falling down her left side, eyes angry, and her lips pulled back in an angry smile, she looked like a warrior from a different time. 

“You killed my father!”

The scream had Jethro taking a step towards her, holstering his gun. 

“Jules.”

She froze at his voice, turning her head a bit, trying to blink away the blood now falling in her face. It had grazed her forehead as well, and it hurt. 

“Aldin drop the gun, you aren’t getting out of here alive if you don’t.”

Tony’s voice was full of authority and anger, the big agent took a step forward, making himself a target. Juliet’s gun lowered, but the other three guns didn’t, and Aldin lowered his weapon to the ground. The beretta came back up how ever, the barrel pointed at the kneeling man’s head. 

“He deserves to die.”

“Never said he didn’t.”

“He… he killed my dad…”

Jethro stepped between her and Aldin, holding out his hand for the gun. She blinked back tears as she tried to look around him. Jethro made sure he stayed in her line of sight. She started to shake as Ziva cuffed the man behind him. 

“Juliet, everything is ok. Give me the gun.”

The second sentence was said with a bit of steel, but she responded, lowering her gun, and putting the safety on. He took it as he pulled her close to him, holding her for just a moment as the sounds of sirens could be heard. She was bleeding, rather badly, though as far as he could tell, Juliet had just gotten a head scratch, not anything lethal. They were still standing there when one of the ambulance workers came up. Juliet stared at the man in confusion as he asked her to sit down on the edge of the vehicle. Jethro guided her to sit down and stood beside her. The EMC eyed them for a moment before getting to work on her head. He did a quick clean and then wrapped it. 

“We’ve got to take her to the hospital. She’s lost a lot of blood, and as far as I can tell she’s in shock. What ever happened here Agent Gibbs, she didn’t exactly do well.”

Jethro nodded, and squeezed her hand, which had been clutching his rather tightly. The trip to the hospital was quiet as Juliet felt herself get very tired. How much blood had she lost? She leaned against Jethro, taking in his sawdust sent as she did so, drifting in and out of consciousness. The hospital was fairly quiet as they arrived, and she was taken into a cot, which she dutifully got on, waiting for the doctor. The woman came in and spoke to Jethro as she just sat there. The doctor pulled off the bandage, and looked over the wound, deciding it didn’t even needed stitches. Juliet remembered something about ‘not even a scar’, but didn’t really care. She was sent home with some pain medication, which meant almost nothing to her. When she did wake up it was dark out, and she could feel that someone was in the bed with her. From the sound of it they were reading a book. She blinked her eyes open a little and saw Jethro sitting on the bed next to her, his side of the bed lit up with a light, and his glasses on as he read from a book. She watched him for quite a while. 

“You hungry?”

She smiled as he finished what he was reading and turned his head to look at her. 

“Sure.”


	13. Welcome Home, Marine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Juliet buries her father, and a new life is started. It's the end of this story, but not the end of our journey with Juliet and Jethro.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for dealing with my weird writing schedule. I will write these two more, but expect more fluff, and a lot less dark. Also, if your interested, keep an eye out for a Firefly based story and a few Marvel Cinematic Universe/AU stories as well.

The weather was cold when Admiral Hart’s body was lowered into the ground. Wind was blowing in another storm. Because of this there were only a few people standing around the grave. The smallest was the only one shivering, but it wouldn’t be from the cold, she was being held against one of the other people there. 

Juliet was the first to step forward and place a rose, which froze as soon as it touched the dark wood coffin. She moved away from the box, letting other’s move forward, but she seemed to stare off into nothing. Beside her, Jethro stuck his hands in his coat pockets, deciding that she needed some alone time. The crack of the guns in the snow only made things louder. The funeral was a quiet one, and soon, the thirty or so people had dispersed, leaving a small group. The three people who were closest to the Admiral and Jethro, who quietly stepped away, towards his truck, knowing that she’d grief again later. For now shared grief would make it easier.

With the warmth of the truck beaconing Juliet pulled out of the hug with her brother and brother-in-law. She made her way through the graveyard to the truck and climbed inside after yanking the door open, tapping her boots on the side of the truck, trying not to track snow into it. The drive was quiet, with Juliet staring out the window at the slowly falling snow.

For the most part, the stoic man left Juliet to her own devises as she moved around his house. He’d gone into the basement, trying to decide what to do. They had two houses now. Well they would. Technically they were still just dating. Only a hundred years ago they’d have been legally bound as soon as they met, but things had changed. The little ranch was still hers, and this house was his. A big part of him didn’t want to let it go. He could hear her upstairs turning on the TV to watch the black and white movies on there.

The memorial was later that day. They went out again, this time Juliet didn’t leave Jethro’s side. There were a lot more people at the memorial, and she ended up hiding behind her brother as everyone came up to give their condolences. They’d had it at her father’s house, and when she did disappear from the room, Jethro didn’t notice at first. He’d been watching his agents, who had been asked to keep an eye on security by Assistant Director Jenny, who was also here, and were doing a good job. Then he was distracted by someone asking him a question about the case. 

When he found her, Juliet was sitting in her father’s room, staring at the ripped up carpet. She had obviously been crying, but her eyes were dry. He sat down next to her and pulled her close, hoping to calm her down. 

“I miss him.”

Jethro didn’t speak, at first just holding her. She was quiet, tired, and sad, and nothing he could say would help. She wrapped an arm around him, just holding him in place. 

“I never really understood him. He hated the idea of me becoming a Naval officer, so I decided war journalist was a good idea. He seemed unhappy about it at first, but I don’t know what changed his mind. I… I just…”

She bit back a sob, and Jethro squeezed a bit harder. She wasn’t quite making sense, but grief was incoherent. Jethro was quiet as he let her cry again. The silver haired man waited for the sobs to subside before finally deciding to say something. 

“Dad’s don’t always know what’s best for their kids, but they always care.”

Juliet nodded, and sighed, trying to get herself to calm down. She didn’t need to cry constantly. He smiled a little at her, and wiped a tear away. She smiled back, eyes still watery. 

“You know, Shannon would have loved you.”

He had no idea what had made him say that, but the surprise on her face must have mirrored hers. She did deserve to know who Shannon was. He was going to learn not to compare, but for now, only days after they’d found one another he knew she’d forgive him. 

“I wish I could have met her. She seems like an amazing lady.”

Her words were oddly comforting to Jethro and he relaxed a little, not even realizing there had been a knot between his shoulders. Juliet watched him for a moment, curious as to what he was actually thinking. He took her hand and started to run his thumb over her palm. They both watched the path of his finger, finding comfort in the small contact. 

“She died when you were… fourteen or so.”

Juliet nodded. That year had been interesting. Only a year before her mother had died, she’d been watching the news on desert storm. It had made her realize life was short, and she’d told mom. Her mother had encouraged her to be more open, and aware of what other’s thought.

“I was watching footage of Desert Storm around then. I’d been really quiet up ‘till then, and I didn’t have many friends. Mom encouraged me to open up.”

Jethro nodded, wondering if it really had been just a coincidence, but he doubted it. He watched her for a moment, before pulling her into his lap, and wrapping his arms around her. She gasped as he did so, but relaxed into the embrace. If any of his agents found him, they’d be surprised, but she seemed to enjoy it as she relaxed into the embrace, holding onto his arms and hands as he did so. 

\---

Morning, the next day, was bright, and beautiful, with thick snow. She had woken up late to find him gone from the bed. She thought he might be at work, and stretched, completely uncaring about her naked body. As she moved towards the window in the bedroom she pulled the old white sheet with her to look at the snow. She had to get back out to the ranch. She had so much to do, and not enough time, like normal. She’d been asked to write a piece on her father, and she wanted to do that right. 

She was still standing there when Jethro came to find out if she was still asleep. He padded quietly into the room, wrapping his arms around her as she jumped a little at the touch, though she was smiling. 

“I though you’d be at the navy yard.”

“Nope.”

A quick roll of her eyes had him laughing a little as she turned around to kiss him, a finger dragging gently across the gray stubble on his face. 

“Hungry?”

She nodded as she dropped the sheet to find her clothing. He watched her appreciatively, noting that she seemed to be moving a great deal more like a cat than normal. He only grinned at her when she mock glared at him. 

“Enjoying the view, Jethro?”

He laughed softly as he walked back up to her and pulled her into a kiss before she could fully get the last article of clothing on (her shirt). She tried to argue but he muffled it easily. She seemed to melt against him. Something that Shannon had never done. Shannon was all fire, Juliet seemed to be more faceted (though she was older than Shannon had been). He mentally berated himself for comparing as she pulled away to finish dressing.

“I was thinking Eggs, bacon, waffles?”

She let his weird sentence go as she nodded, tugging on her socks before walking into the hallway, and down the stairs. She did like this house, though it needed a more feminine touch. The couch once was new, but really, it needed to be updated. Well all of the house needed that.

He followed enjoying her ability to just fit in, though it was a bit jarring to see her where Shannon had been. He moved past her to the kitchen as she looked out the front door at the snow. Untouched. It made her want to go for a ride.

She could smell the bacon, which meant he’d probably almost finished with things by the time he’d come to find her. She realized she’d been smelling it since she woke up, but hadn’t quite registered it. Odd, but still. She’d had a stressful few weeks, she could be excused.

She sat down in the kitchen, watching him, as he handed her coffee. She’d have asked to help, but he seemed determined to do it all himself, and if there was one thing she’d learned, he hated asking for help. Or taking it. He would, if he had to, but she wasn’t about to offer right then. 

He sat down handing her her food at the same time as his. They ate in silence, for the moment, but it wasn’t long before he felt the need to talk. Something, that again, only Shannon had brought out of him. 

“I was thinking of selling this place.”

That surprised Juliet and she stared at him for a moment, before looking around. 

“Why? It’s your home.”

“Was. It needs some fixing up, in the basement mostly.”

She frowned at him, as he gave her a non-answer. His responce was just to continue talking, which didn’t help his case much. 

“Jethro, this is your home. You don’t have to leave it because of me.”

“I want to. The ranch has more room, for the two of us, and you can’t exactly keep the horses here.”

She giggled a little at the idea of her big horses in the back yard. Not possible, even a little. He continued talking about market prices, and how with a little fixing up, a new furniture, it would sell for more than he’d gotten it. She let him go on, realizing he was going to do it either way. She was going to have to clear out her basement. Though she’d probably demand any boat building be in the woodshed outside. That was something she didn’t want to see happen to her floor. Juliet watched him as he talked, half ignoring her, as if just feeling the need to talk out his plans. He seemed a bit younger, as if he was enjoying the idea of moving, of exploring new worlds. She had no doubt that if his little family could see him, talking, a lot, they’d be amazed, but she was fairly sure he enjoyed talking, he just didn’t always have much to say. This was going to be interesting. 

This was going to be a new adventure. Sometimes you lose something, only to gain something better. Juliet’s life was going to change drastically, if Jethro had any say in the matter, but oddly, she found that comforting. Change, not always bad.


End file.
